The UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs named a professor of urban planning and Asian American studies as interim dean effective immediately, officials announced Wednesday.
Lois M. Takahashi will replace Frank Gilliam, the outgoing dean, who will be the chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
The Luskin School of Public Affairs plans to start a national search for a permanent dean in the fall and hopes to hire a new dean by July 2016, Takahashi said.
Takahashi has taught at UCLA since 2001. She currently serves as associate dean of research at the School of Public Affairs and as associate director of the University of California Asian American and Pacific Islander Policy Multicampus Research Program.
As associate director, Takahashi worked with community organizations and public officials to develop policy ideas involving issues such as education and incarceration that are important to California’s Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
Takahashi said she intends to continue Global Public Affairs at UCLA Luskin’s certificate programs, where students can earn a certificate in addition to their master’s degree if they complete courses in any of four subject areas: global environment, processes and institutions, health and urbanization. She also wants to continue undergraduate minor programs, as well as various social justice and diversity initiatives that Gilliam piloted.
Mark Peterson, chair of the Department of Public Policy at the school, said he thinks Takahashi is well-suited to the position of interim dean.
“She is extraordinarily supportive of faculty, staff and students, and has a history of bringing people together to assist one another.”
Peterson cited her efforts mentoring untenured professors, working with faculty to write grant proposals for the School of Public Affairs and working with the community to promote policymaking.
Takahashi said she expects important challenges include recruiting new students, hiring at least six new faculty members and choosing a new dean. She added she hopes to advance the School of Public Affairs’ Centennial Campaign by working with development staff to form a fundraising strategy for next year.
As dean, Takahashi said will continue her research efforts. She currently is studying HIV testing, treatment and care access in Southern California. She is also studying the massage parlor industry in Los Angeles and New York City, with a focus on the role that Asian immigrant parlors play in the city’s economy and how this work affects immigrant women’s economic empowerment, she said.
Compiled by Jorge Valero, Bruin contributor.