UC Irvine appoints former dean as new provost and executive vice chancellor

UC Irvine found a new provost and executive vice chancellor in Hal Stern, a former dean of the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences and the founding chair of the department of statistics that has served as the interim provost since March.

Stern will replace Enrique Lavernia, who stepped down from his position last year after being put on administrative leave pending an external investigation into his academic and research activities.

Lavernia is still employed by the university as a distinguished professor in the department of chemical engineering and materials science, according to a campus spokesman who also stated that a federal agency is performing the investigation.

It is unclear what agency is conducting the investigation or its status.

Stern was appointed as the interim provost by Chancellor Howard Gillman in consultation with the Academic Senate to oversee the transition to remote learning and social distancing protocols last year at the start of the pandemic. Prior to his appointment as the interim, he was the vice provost of academic planning.

In his new official role, Stern will oversee the university’s teaching and research enterprise, which includes 14 schools and more than 4,000 faculty members and 224 degree programs.

Stern arrived at the university in 2002 and will also retain a faculty position as a chancellor’s professor of statistics.

“I’m honored to have been chosen to remain provost and executive vice chancellor at one of the country’s top public research universities,” Stern said in a statement.

“As the campus and society emerge from the many challenges of the past year, we will continue on our ambitious path to reach new heights of excellence and social impact,” he added.

Gillman said that Stern has impressed the community in the past year with his leadership and that, after meeting with several candidates for the position, Stern has “the vision, experience, character and temperament to best serve UCI in the years to come.”

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