29 May 2008
Dear Colleagues:
I am pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. as dean of the UCLA School of Public Affairs, effective September 1, 2008, pending approval by the UC Regents.
A member of UCLA’s political science faculty for more than two decades, Frank has served since 2002 as UCLA’s (and UC’s) first-ever associate vice chancellor of community partnerships. In that role, he has built a strong program of academic civic engagement through the Center for Community Partnerships (UCLA in L.A). He is also the founding director of the Center for Communications and Community at UCLA.
Throughout his UCLA tenure, Frank has built important strategic alliances within the campus and with civic and corporate leaders. He has also maintained strong ties to the philanthropic community, both locally and nationally. He has served on many boards and committees and given numerous lectures and presentations. He is a senior fellow of the FrameWorks Institute and a political analyst for KTLA TV.
In addition to UCLA, Frank has taught at the University of Wisconsin, Grinnell College and the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. His research areas include race and electoral politics, urban politics and development, and the impact of strategic communications on public policy preferences. He has published extensively and is the author of Farther to Go: Readings and Cases in African-American Politics.
Frank holds a bachelor’s degree from Drake University and a master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.
I want to thank the search/advisory committee for its role in recruiting Frank. Together, they assembled an outstanding pool of candidates for this position. The committee was chaired by Aimée Dorr, dean of the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. Other committee members included Joel Aberbach, Department of Political Science; David Fisher, chairman of the board, Capital Group International and Capital Guardian Trust Companies, and member of the School of Public Affairs Dean’s Advisory Council; Aurora Jackson, Department of Social Welfare; Stuart Kirk, Department of Social Welfare; Arleen Leibowitz, Department of Public Policy; Michael Stoll, Department of Public Policy; Lois Takahashi, Department of Urban Planning; Brian Taylor, Department of Urban Planning; and Jonathan Zasloff, School of Law. The executive search firm, Witt/Kieffer, was represented by Mary Elizabeth Taylor.
I want to thank Barbara Nelson for her 10 years of distinguished service as dean and Fernando Torres-Gil for serving as acting dean.
I am confident that Frank will lead the School of Public Affairs to even greater heights. Please join me in congratulating him.
Sincerely,
Scott L. Waugh
Acting Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost