Bryant to step down as dean of biological sciences
Susan V. Bryant, dean of the School of Biological Sciences, has been named vice chancellor for research at the University of California, Irvine effective Aug. 1, 2006, after a national search.
In that capacity, she will lead the university's efforts to increase government and private support for research and scholarship, develop the university's research infrastructure, facilitate technology transfer, oversee compliance with research guidelines and expand funding opportunities available to researchers. She also will advise on academic issues impacting research and help to promote diversity goals within campus research activities.
"We are delighted she has accepted this position after many successful years leading the School of Biological Sciences," said Chancellor Michael V. Drake. "In her service as a teacher, researcher, administrator and leader, Sue has been a driving force on a wide range of important initiatives at the university - from stem cell research to advancing gender diversity in the sciences. We look forward to her leadership as we take UCI's research programs to the next step."
Bryant has been dean of biological sciences since 2000, overseeing a school that includes more than 100 faculty, who guide the work of 3,500 undergraduate and 270 graduate students. Since she joined the UCI faculty in 1969, she has held several administrative positions, including assistant vice chancellor for plans and programs, chair of developmental and cell biology, and program director of the National Science Foundation's developmental biology program. Bryant is a leading expert in the study of limb regeneration. Her work has focused on how an animal such as the salamander has the unique ability among vertebrates to regenerate lost limbs as an adult. Her research, which has resulted in more than 100 publications, identifies the molecular patterns triggering this limb regrowth, and may one day lead to new approaches and therapies for replacing and repairing lost, damaged or diseased parts of the human body.
In 2001, Bryant was elected a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and, in 2005, she became a fellow of the Association for Women in Science. She also serves as a member of the California Independent Citizen's Oversight Committee, which was established to govern the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine approved by the state's voters when they passed Proposition 71 in 2004. She serves on the editorial boards of several journals in her field.
In addition to being honored many times for her teaching and research work, Bryant is recognized for her efforts to bring gender equity to the sciences. When she became dean, less than 16 percent of tenure-track faculty in biological sciences were women. Bryant gathered a team to successfully apply for a five-year, $3.45 million National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant to address gender inequities, making UCI one of the first nine institutions nationwide, and the only one in California, to receive this award. The NSF award helped UCI successfully increase the representation of women faculty. Prior to the award, women made up less than 24 percent of the UCI faculty; today, that number has increased to 28 percent. In biological sciences, the representation of women has increased from 16 percent to 27 percent over the same period. Gains also were seen in the hiring of underrepresented minority faculty.
Bryant received her doctorate in developmental biology from the University of London in 1967 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Case Western Reserve University. She is a native of Yorkshire, in northern England.
"I have loved serving as dean of biological sciences - this is a wonderful time in the history of research and education in biology, and the faculty and students are truly outstanding. While I will certainly miss my current role, I am looking forward to the challenge of facilitating research and scholarship campuswide, and developing the infrastructure needed to support the increasingly complex research enterprise, at the same time as continuing my own scholarly pursuits," Bryant said. "I also gratefully acknowledge the talents of my predecessor, Bill Parker, and I look forward to building on his accomplishments as we move forward."
Parker has served as vice chancellor for research and dean of graduate studies since July 2000. Due to campus growth and the increasing complexity of the vice chancellor and dean's roles, the position has been split in two, and Carolyn Boyd was recently named dean of graduate studies (see www.today.uci.edu/news/release_detail.asp?key=1489).
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