UCLA named a new dean of social sciences for the UCLA College on Friday.
Darnell Hunt, chair of the sociology department, will start his term as the new dean July 1, according to an announcement by Scott Waugh, UCLA executive vice chancellor and provost. Hunt will replace Laura Gómez, who has served as interim dean since July 2016.
“I have no doubt that Darnell Hunt will be an exemplary leader of the social sciences at UCLA,” Waugh said in a statement. “His reputation and experience as a leader, scholar and champion of social justice will serve him well in this new role.”
Hunt, who researches race and culture, is also the director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA and the lead author of the center’s annual Hollywood Diversity Report, which analyzes diversity and profit in the film industry.
He received the UCLA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award in 2011 and served on the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations Academic Advisory Board from 2003 to 2009.
Hunt received his doctorate in sociology from UCLA and was previously the chair of sociology at USC.
Alessandro Duranti, who became dean in 2009, retired from his position in 2016 to return to his original position as a professor of anthropology.