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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Dear Campus Community,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Kathryn Uhrich, the longest serving Dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) in 40 years, is stepping down effective September 1, 2023. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Dean Uhrich was appointed in January 2016. For the past seven and a half years, she has remained steadfastly committed to the pursuit of equity and excellence in research, science</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt">
education, outreach, and public service. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Under her leadership, the undergraduate 4-year graduation rate increased by more than 10 percentage points; the total number of degrees awarded increased almost 60 percent; and the faculty became more diverse
by race, ethnicity, and gender. CNAS faculty helped UCR claim the top spot in the UC system for percentage of NSF CAREER awards per ladder-rank faculty. The college grew its total amount of extramural grants from $72.2M in FY2018 to $98.8M in FY2022, an increase
of 37 percent that surely contributed to UCR’s acceptance into the Association of American Universities (AAU) this year.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Two more points of pride: Under Dean Uhrich’s leadership, CNAS raised over $100M during UCR’s Living the Promise campaign, a third of the campus total. She also added 25,000 square feet to the College’s agricultural
research infrastructure, bringing the total to some 1.3M gross square feet utilized by CNAS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">In addition to the many accomplishments the college achieved during her tenure, Dr. Uhrich maintained her reputation as an internationally acclaimed chemist. In 2022, she was named a fellow of the prestigious
American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Uhrich will take a year of sabbatical to bring her research back up to full speed, and she tells me she is looking forward to returning to teaching and mentoring as a distinguished faculty member in
the Department of Chemistry. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Uhrich on her many years of service to UCR and wishing her all the best in this next chapter of her illustrious career.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Peter Atkinson, Professor of Entomology, will serve as Interim Dean while we conduct a national search for the next Dean of the College. Dr. Atkinson served as Divisional Dean of Life Sciences in CNAS from
2012 to 2017 and chaired the Academic Senate Committee on Planning & Budget last
</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt">year. <span style="color:#212121">He shares my deep commitment to CNAS, and during this interim period, he and I will work closely with faculty and staff of to ensure the continued success of all the College’s programs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#212121"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#212121">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#212121"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#212121">Liz<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#212121"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">Elizabeth Watkins, PhD
</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">(she / her / hers)</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">Professor of History</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">University of California, Riverside</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">951.827.1129 |
<a href="mailto:Elizabeth.Watkins@UCR.edu"><span style="color:#0563C1">Elizabeth.Watkins@UCR.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:4.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.ucr.edu/"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:windowtext;mso-ligatures:none;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="235" height="71" style="width:2.4513in;height:.743in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D9BA0C.9CD1A860" alt="Logo
Description automatically generated"></span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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