Dean, Social Sciences Division

Job Overview

University of California, Santa Cruz seeks a collaborative leader and strategic convener to serve as the Dean of the Social Sciences Division. The Dean serves as the executive officer of the Division and partners closely with the Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor to lead the Division and help guide the academic program of one of the nation's most distinctive research universities through a period of transformative opportunity and change.

The Dean will join a highly collegial and collaborative group of academic leaders and be expected to work closely with the deans of the four other academic divisions (Arts, Engineering, Humanities, Physical and Biological Sciences).

Set within 2,000 acres of coastal redwood forest overlooking Monterey Bay, UC Santa Cruz is a top‑tier public research university that combines academic excellence with a bold commitment to access, sustainability, and social impact. With a total enrollment of nearly 20,000 students—approximately 17,370 undergraduates and 1,890 graduate students—UC Santa Cruz is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and holds R1 status.

In fiscal year 2024, UC Santa Cruz secured over $250 million in extramural research funding, reflecting a dynamic research enterprise. The University's annual operating budget exceeds $1 billion, with core funds supporting its mission of teaching, research, and public service. Guided by its strategic plan, Leading the Change, UC Santa Cruz is advancing student success, interdisciplinary innovation, and inclusive excellence.

The Division of Social Sciences encompasses eight academic departments:
Anthropology, Economics, Education, Environmental Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies, Politics, Psychology, and Sociology. It is the largest division on campus, enrolling roughly 36% of UCSC's undergraduates and 17% of its graduate students. The Division offers fifteen undergraduate majors, four master’s programs, and eight doctoral programs—many of them interdisciplinary in scope and design.

Research in Social Sciences is supported by a wide array of interdisciplinary centers and initiatives that address critical social, economic, and policy issues, including the Center for Agroecology, the Center for Economic Justice and Action, the Center for Integrated Spatial Research, the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas, the Center for Analytical Finance, the Science and Justice Research Center, the Center for Statistical Analysis in Social Sciences, the Kenneth S.

Norris Center for Natural History, the Center for Labor and Community, the Right Livelihood Center, and the Institute for Social Transformation. The Division also houses two residential undergraduate colleges—College Nine and John R. Lewis College—whose Provost reports to the Dean and the Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education. In total, the Dean oversees a $40 million budget, approximately 150 full‑time faculty, and more than 100 staff members dedicated to advancing the Division's teaching, research, and public service mission.

The next Dean of Social Sciences will assume this role at a pivotal time. Responsibilities include strengthening research and teaching infrastructure, advancing graduate pathways, enriching experiential learning, deepening community engagement, amplifying the Division's impact locally and globally, and navigating fiscal realities while driving innovation within the Division.

Equally critical will be expanding fundraising and strategic partnerships, articulating a compelling vision that attracts transformative investments, and cultivating collaborations with industry, government, and nonprofits. Through courageous leadership, creative problem‑solving, and a commitment to socially engaged scholarship, the Dean will position Social Sciences as a dynamic, resilient, and globally impactful division, ensuring its continued role as a leader in innovation, equity, and public good.

The Dean must be an accomplished academic leader with national or international distinction as a scholar and educator, qualified for…