Dear Campus Community,

I am excited to announce the appointment of Lidia Kos as Vice Provost & Dean of Graduate Studies. Her first day will be July 15, 2023.

Lidia joins UCR from Florida International University (FIU), where she is a Professor of Biology, Associate Dean of the University Graduate School, and Associate Vice President of the Office of Research and Economic Development.  FIU is an R1 university and a Hispanic-Serving Institution, enrolling more than 56,000 students.

Lidia’s research focuses on the development and pathogenesis of pigment cells. She uses mouse molecular genetics to understand the molecular basis of neural crest differentiation and melanoma.

She has extensive experience teaching undergraduate and graduate students in cell, developmental and molecular biology. She has mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral fellows in her laboratory. In FIU’s Graduate School she oversees over 9,000 students in master’s, specialist, and doctoral programs. She is responsible for all academic and administrative matters related to graduate education at FIU.

Lidia has served as the Executive Editor for the journal Pigment Cell and Melanoma Research and is currently on its editorial board. She has served as a member of grant review panels for NSF, NIH, and the American Heart Association (AHA), and is currently on the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) TWD review panel. She has been funded by NIGMS, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), and AHA and is currently the PI of the Florida Alliance for Graduate Education in the Professoriate (FL-AGEP) and co-PI of an NIGMS T32 and NSF Bridge to the Doctorate training grants at FIU.

Lidia received a BS in Biology from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a PhD in Neurobiology from UC Berkeley. She was a Fogarty Fellow at the NIH, where she did postdoctoral studies.

I want to express my gratitude to Shaun Bowler, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, for his service as Dean of the Graduate Division since July 2017. Shaun announced his intention to step down last spring and graciously agreed to stay on until a new dean was named. I would also like to thank the members of the search committee for their active engagement in helping to select our new VPDGS:

• Steven Mandeville-Gamble, University Librarian (Chair)
• Khaleel Abdul-Razak, Professor of Psychology
• Katherine Borkovich, Divisional Dean of Life Sciences
• Kevin Esterling, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy
• Perla Fabelo, Graduate Student Services Advisor III
• Andrea Gonzales, Financial Operations Manager
• Gloria Gonzalez-Rivera, Professor, CHASS
• Hillary Jenks, Director, Graduate Success
• Ryan Julian, Professor of Chemistry
• Mariam Lam, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer (AACL)
• Dena Plemmons, Director, Research Ethics & Education Program
• Victoria Reyes, Associate Professor, Gender & Sexuality Studies
• Rosanne Rosenthal, Graduate Student Association
• Amit Roy-Chowdhury, Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
• Christiane Weirauch, Professor of Entomology