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Photo by Todd Cheney UCLA Photo
Patricia O’Brien, a French history scholar, will
assume her new role as executive dean of the UCLA College
on July 1.
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'a thrilling opportunity'
UCR dean is College-bound
BY WENDY SODERBURG
UCLA Today Staff
On July 1, UC Riverside’s loss will be UCLA’s gain.
That’s the day Patricia O’Brien, dean of the College
of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at UCR, will assume the
position of executive dean of the UCLA College. She will take over
for Judith L. Smith, who has been serving as acting executive dean
since July 2003.
“Pat O’Brien is a respected scholar, dedicated teacher
and skilled administrator,” Chancellor Albert Carnesale said.
“Her performance in high-level academic and administrative
posts in the UC system demonstrates that she is extremely well-qualified
to lead the UCLA College into the future.”
“UCLA is such a thrilling opportunity for me, at a very
challenging time,” O’Brien said. “This university
is a world leader in public higher education. It’s an opportunity
that was just too wonderful for me to turn down.”
UCLA is the third UC at which O’Brien will serve as an administrator.
At UC Riverside, where she currently oversees 20 departments in
the humanities, arts and social sciences, O’Brien launched
collaborative initiatives in several areas, including digital media
and Southeast Asian, Native-American and policy studies. One of
her proudest achievements during her five years as dean, O’Brien
said, was the hiring of approximately 100 new faculty in the college.
Before that, O’Brien spent 25 years at UC Irvine, where
she served as chair of the history department before becoming associate
vice chancellor, then acting vice chancellor, for research. In 1994,
she assumed the directorship of the UC Humanities Research Institute,
a multi-campus research unit whose centerpiece program involves
bringing together scholars from all over the world to live at UC
Irvine and work on commonly defined research agendas.
“There are moments when such collaborative efforts really
push things forward, and the value added is greater than the sum
of the parts,” O’Brien said. “This program, for
me, was very intellectually stimulating.”
A native of Cambridge, Mass., O’Brien earned her master’s
and doctoral degrees in history at Columbia University. She is an
expert on modern French history and 19th- and 20th-century social
and cultural history, and is currently on leave while she finishes
two projects: a revision of a textbook she co-wrote, “Civilization
in the West,” and a monograph on the French state in the 19th
century.
When she arrives at Murphy Hall on July 1, O’Brien plans
to listen and learn from her fellow administrators and the faculty.
“I’ve become very aware that protecting quality is a
primary concern in this challenging budget time, so that will be
the benchmark for anything we do,” she said.
O’Brien also looks forward to meeting with students. “The
few I met during the interview process were just so impressive to
me — their commitment and their understanding of what makes
UCLA a great place,” she said. “So I know that’s
going to be fun to do, and it’s going to keep me in touch
with what UCLA is all about.”
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