July 21, 2006
Vice Chancellors, Deans and Directors:
I am delighted to announce that, following a nationwide search, Professor Thomas Rice has been appointed UCLA Vice Chancellor for Academic Personnel, effective August 1, 2006.
Dr. Rice is currently Professor of Health Services in the UCLA School of Public Health, where he also serves as Vice Chair of the Department of Health Services. He served as Department Chair from 1996-2000 and 2003-2004.
Professor Rice received his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1982. Before joining the UCLA faculty in 1991, he was a faculty member at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. He has conducted research and published in a number of areas, including physicians' economic behavior, health insurance for the elderly, the Medicare program, health care cost containment, the role of competition in health care reform and managed care. The second edition of his book, The Economics of Health Reconsidered, was published in 2003.
Dr. Rice currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Academy Health, which represents the profession of health services research in the United States. He received the Academy’s Young Investigator Award in 1988 and Article-of-the-Year Award in 1998.
Please join me in congratulating Professor Rice and in welcoming him to his new position.
Sincerely,
Norman Abrams
Acting Chancellor