Dear colleagues, 

It is with mixed feelings that I have to share that Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development Gillian Wilson has been appointed UC Merced's new Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development. Gillian's last day at UC Riverside will be September 30.

Having joined UCR in 2007 as a professor of physics and astronomy, Gillian also serves as director of the university’s Multidisciplinary Research Building, Assistant Research Integrity Officer, and as UCR Director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology. She has previously held roles as Interim Divisional Dean for Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Chair of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences Executive Committee, Chair of the Research and Economic Development Advisory Board, and Interim Deputy Director of the University of California Observatories. Gillian has been a very valuable member of the RED team. Among other contributions, she developed a successful program to help our junior faculty apply for the prestigious NSF CAREER Award, through which we have reached record numbers of awardees in recent years.

Please join me in congratulating Gillian on this new leadership role at UC Merced and thanking her for her 15 years of service and contributions to RED and UCR. We will greatly miss Gillian but are excited for her and looking forward to further collaboration between our two campuses.