Elizabeth Langland, dean of the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies, will join Purchase College of the State University of New York on Aug. 1 as its provost and vice president for academic affairs.

"My pleasure at accepting this new position and challenge is tempered, however, by my regret at leaving UC Davis and HArCS," Langland said. "My five years here have been extraordinarily rewarding. I believe our departments and programs are perfectly poised to build effectively on the excellence they have already achieved."

Said Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef: "Elizabeth has done an outstanding job of advancing the division since assuming her post here in July 1999, and she will be sorely missed. As provost at Purchase, she will have the opportunity to serve as chief academic officer of a young campus now aspiring to the level of excellence that she has helped establish here at UC Davis. That challenge, as well as the chance to live closer to her family, have lured Elizabeth to New York despite her love of our campus and our best efforts to retain her."

Purchase College, founded in 1967 by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller as part of the State University of New York's (SUNY) network of 64 universities and colleges, uniquely combines campus conservatory training in the visual and performing arts with liberal arts and sciences programs. Its Neuberger Museum -- the nation's eighth largest university art museum -- contains the works of American masters collected over half a century by Roy R. Neuberger.

Some 4,000 students are enrolled at Purchase College, with two-thirds in the liberal arts and sciences programs. The remainder are enrolled in the highly selective Conservatories of Dance, Music and Theater. Its alumni count among Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur "genius" award recipients and among the most accomplished of directors, playwrights and performing artists.

"I am delighted that Elizabeth Langland will soon join us," said Purchase College President Thomas J. Schwarz. "We were seeking an individual with a distinguished record of scholarship and demonstrated interest and accomplishment in the arts as well as the liberal arts. Elizabeth is a perfect fit for us."

Langland said her new post offers her "a combination of challenges -- which are enormous -- and opportunities, which are also enormous." She cited the art museum, a performing arts center and the college's signature programs as "very interesting pieces that have even greater potential woven into a more seamless whole. I'm eager to help the campus achieve its exciting potential."

A bonus for Langland -- and her husband, Jerry Jahn, director of development communications at UC Davis -- is Purchase's proximity to their two children and to her brother, all of whom work, study or perform in the New York City area.

Chancellor Vanderhoef and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw will meet shortly with the HArCS chairs and directors to discuss interim leadership of the division.

A national search for Langland's successor will be launched early in the 2004-05 academic year with the aim to ensure that the next dean "is someone who will continue to build on the fine foundation of excellence established during Elizabeth's tenure," said Vanderhoef.