Pitts fills the vacancy in the position resulting from the departure of interim Provost Robert Grey. Pitts' six-month interim appointment will be effective on or about Feb. 10, 2009, and will continue until a permanent provost is hired and for a reasonable transition period thereafter or until Aug. 31, 2009, whichever occurs first.
Yudof made the interim appointment in accordance with UC policy and after consulting with all 10 campus chancellors and several UC regents. A national search is under way for a permanent provost which Yudof hopes to successfully conclude by Sept. 1, 2009. Yudof is consulting with a working group on the selection of a permanent provost.
"Larry is an accomplished academic leader and he knows UC extremely well," said Yudof. "I am very appreciative that he has agreed to lend his considerable talents to us during this transitional period."
"I also want to thank Bob Grey for his service and partnership these past months," said Yudof. "I am deeply indebted to him for his generosity and service to us since these past months, and I respect his decision to step down."
Pitts, 68, a longtime UC faculty member and past chair of the UC Academic Senate, is a professor of neurosurgery at UC San Francisco, where he has served on the faculty since 1975. At UCSF he has been chief of neurosurgery at San Francisco General Hospital and of UCSF/Mount Zion Hospital, and vice chair and acting chair of the Department of Neurosurgery. He has also served on a variety of UC Academic Senate committees at the divisional and systemwide levels, including the Senate's Shared Governance Task Force, the Task Force on Healthcare and the drafting task force on UC's Health Corporate Compliance Plan. Pitts received concurrent bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and industrial management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as a naval officer for two years before attending the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He did his neurosurgical training at UCSF.
"The University of California is a remarkable institution, and one that I care about deeply, and I am honored to serve UC in this capacity," said Pitts.
As interim provost, Pitts will receive the following compensation and benefits: an annual salary of $350,000, which is the same salary as his predecessor; per policy, standard sick leave and vacation accrual; per policy, administrative funds for official entertainment and other purposes permitted by university policy; and per policy, eligibility for standard employee medical, dental and vision coverage. As a re-employed UC retiree, Pitts will suspend his pension and retiree benefits, allowing him to return full time during this appointment as an active employee and making him eligible for regular employee health coverage and additional pension credits for his service, consistent with UC policy. The full-time appointment is an exception to policy since it exceeds the normal appointment maximum of 43 percent time for re-employed retirees.