Daryle Williams, Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS), is stepping down effective September 1, 2026.
Dean Williams was appointed in September 2021. For the past five years, he has remained steadfastly committed to educational access and world-class research at UC Riverside.
Under his leadership, 80 new faculty joined the College, including 20 from the President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, for which Dean Williams served as a strong champion. He also successfully retained more than three-quarters of CHASS Senate faculty with outside opportunities during his tenure. He initiated a Staff Task Force in 2023 and implemented several of its recommendations in the past three years, including the relaunch of STAR Awards, the introduction of multiyear hybrid work agreements, a CHASS Staff Scholarship pilot, and staff participation in professional development opportunities. Dean Williams secured $9 million in gifts and grants for the College: more than $4 million for new endowed chairs, nearly $1 million for endowed lectures, more than $1.5 million for high-impact student opportunities in Washington, DC, New York, and Sacramento, a $400,000 annual gift for the Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts, and more than $2 million in support from the Mellon Foundation.
Dean Williams has also been a passionate voice for the value of the humanities, arts, and social sciences as academic pursuits and as vital components of an informed citizenry and a healthy society. His contributions at the state level were recognized in his appointment as chair of the California Humanities Board; his endeavors at the national level were recognized in his nomination to the National Council on the Humanities.
Dr. Williams will take a year of sabbatical to bring his research back up to full speed, and then he will return to teaching and mentoring as a faculty member in the Department of History. He shared that he is looking forward to spending more time with his husband. Please join me in wishing Dr. Williams all the best in this next chapter of his career.
After consultation with the CHASS Faculty Executive Committee, I have decided to appoint Steven Helfand, Professor of Economics, to serve as Interim Dean while we conduct a national search for the next Dean of the College. Dr. Helfand chaired the Department of Economics from 2017 to 2023, and he chaired the Latin American Studies Program from 2002 to 2006. He served as Director of the UC Education Abroad Program in Brazil from 2006 to 2009, and he has served on UCR’s Academic Senate Committee on Planning & Budget for most of the past two years. He shares my deep commitment to CHASS, and during this interim period, he and I will work closely with faculty and staff to ensure the continued success of all the College’s programs.