Acting on the recommendation of University of California President Robert C. Dynes, the UC Board of Regents today (Nov. 15) appointed Steven V.W. Beckwith, director emeritus of the Space Telescope Science Institute and a professor of physics and astronomy at The Johns Hopkins University’s Space Telescope Science Institute, UC’s systemwide vice president for research and graduate studies, effective Jan. 1, 2008.

Since 1998, Beckwith, 55, has worked at the Space Telescope Science Institute, where he served as director from 1998 to 2005. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing approximately 600 people including more than 100 Ph.D. scientists on research activities for the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as distribution of more than $25 million annually in research funding. Beckwith is also credited with developing the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, the deepest optical image ever taken of the universe.

From 1991 to 1998, Beckwith was the managing director of the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie in Heidelberg, Germany, responsible for overseeing a staff of 200 scientists, engineers and technical specialists, and directing the scientific program in Germany and running the German national observatory in Calar Alto, Spain. Prior to that, he was a professor in the astronomy department at Cornell University, where he went immediately after finishing his Ph.D. thesis at Caltech in 1978.

“We are very pleased to have Professor Beckwith joining UC,” said Dynes. “His extraordinary experience as faculty member, researcher, administrator and leader of large research organizations makes him very well-suited for leading our efforts to strengthen our systemwide research initiatives and graduate education programs.”

As vice president for research and graduate studies, Beckwith will act as the senior UC systemwide research officer responsible for UC’s long term graduate education planning, outreach and recruitment; coordinating systemwide planning for new graduate programs; and identifying and developing responses to major research initiatives and opportunities. The position is also expected to promote ties with industry, state and federal government, and develop and promote university positions on research policy issues.

“UC is the pre-eminent public research university in the world, and I am deeply honored by this appointment,” said Beckwith. “It is the best-positioned university system to create major scientific advances through multicampus cooperation, and I am very much looking forward to working with the regents, administration, faculty, staff and students to help advance UC’s tradition of excellence in forefront research and graduate education.”

Beckwith has broad experience working with funding agencies and governments in the United States and Europe, including the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and their counterparts in Germany. He has served on oversight committees for some of the world’s largest astronomical facilities – the European Southern Observatory, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, and the Large Binocular Telescope – and he led committees that set national strategies for major investments in astronomy sponsored by the National Research Council and the European Space Agency. He has successfully initiated several partnerships between international organizations in Europe to promote science, for which he won the Max Planck Society Prize for International Organization in 1997.

Additionally, Beckwith continues to provide service to his community through memberships on boards and professional societies include the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Astronomical Society, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the Astronomische Gesellschaft, and the International Astronomical Union.

This is a new position for UC, approved by the Regents in May in response to the recommendations of an academic committee appointed to review the function, organization, development and leadership of the research support operations at the Office of the President.

The committee’s recommendations emphasized the need for a new position to play a leadership role nationally on research issues, serving as a strong advocate for federally funded basic research, for enhanced industrial partnerships and for continuing integration between the research endeavors of the UC campuses and of the university-linked National Laboratories. The committee also recommended that this position have broad responsibility for policy oversight and advocacy for graduate education matters, which currently are shared by multiple departments within the Office of the President.

Beckwith will receive an annual salary of $320,000, along with the following additional items per university policy:
• Standard Pension and Health and Welfare benefits and standard Senior Management benefits, including Senior Manager Life Insurance, Executive Business Travel Insurance;
• 5 percent monthly contribution to the Senior Management Supplemental Benefit Program;
• An automobile allowance of $8,916 per annum;
• Participation in the Mortgage Origination Loan Program (MOP), available to be exercised within a period not to exceed 24 months from date of employment;
• Use of administrative funds for official entertainment and other purposes permitted by university policy;
• A relocation allowance of $80,000 (25 percent of base salary as per UC policy) to be paid in annual installments over three years from date of hire, to help offset the costs of relocating Dr. Beckwith’s home to the Bay Area.

As an exception to policy, reimbursement of actual reasonable costs associated with temporary accommodations not to exceed $25,000 over a period of six months to assist with the transition of Dr. Beckwith from his current residence to the Oakland area;

Beckwith holds an undergraduate degree in engineering physics from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in physics from the California Institute of Technology. A native of Wisconsin, he is married to Dr. Susan McCormick, with two children, Martha and Thomas.

A copy of Beckwith’s resume will be available at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/2007/beckwith_resume.pdf.

About the University of California: The UC system includes 10 campuses, five medical centers and programs across the state. It is also involved in managing three national laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy. The UC community encompasses 209,000 students, 170,000 employees, 45,000 retirees, and 1.4 million alumni living and working around the world. For more news and information about the University of California: www.universityofcalifornia.edu

Photo courtesy of Space Telescope Science Institute