Fiehn
Gov. Jerry Brown recently appointed Professor Oliver Fiehn to the California Scientific Guidance Panel. It provides oversight of the California Biomonitoring Program, which measures exposure of Californians to environmental chemicals and assesses ways to reduce exposure to specific chemicals.
Fiehn, affiliated with the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and the Genome Center, is an expert in metabolomics, the science of studying metabolism by looking at hundreds or thousands of compounds at the same time.
He is faculty lead for the Metabolomics Core at the Genome Center and director of the National Institutes of Health-funded West Coast Metabolomics Center.
Professional Education Showcase
UC Davis Extension’s twice-a-year Professional Education Showcase, promoting the extension program's continuing education opportunities for working professionals, is next scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 13.
Space is limited for the free event in Sacramento, so, if you’re interested, you should sign up now, especially for the discipline-specific information sessions that are part of the program.
The online registration system uses “enroll now” buttons, even though you are not enrolling in a course, only signing up for a breakout session. During the real enrollment process, UC Davis staff and faculty receive a discount of 20 percent if you enroll four or more days before the first class, or half off if you enroll three days or less before the first class (though you risk the chance that that class will fill before you sign up).
Check-in for the showcase will be from 5:30 to 6 p.m., and breakout sessions will be from 6 to 7. Location is UC Davis Extension’s Sacramento center, in the Sutter Square Galleria, 2901 K St., between 29th and 30th streets, and J and K streets, on the west side of the Capital City Freeway (Business 80). Registration is free, and so is parking in the galleria garage.
Riverside chancellor pick: Former Michigan St. provost
UC President Mark G. Yudof announced this week his selection of Kim A. Wilcox, former provost and executive vice president of Michigan State University, to serve as the chancellor UC Riverside.
Wilcox, professor of communicative sciences and disorders at Michigan State, announced late last year that he would step down as provost and executive vice president on July 1 after serving in those positions since 2005. Previously, he had served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas, from 2002 to 2005, and as president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Board of Regents from 1999 to 2002.
"Kim Wilcox brings to the University of California distinctive expertise and interests that will serve the Riverside campus and the larger community exceedingly well," Yudof said. "He has been a dedicated teacher, scholar and researcher who also excelled as an academic leader and chief executive, always maintaining his commitment to diversity and access to higher education."
The UC Board of Regents is scheduled to consider the appointment during a special meeting on Aug. 8.
Customer Service name change
The UC Customer Service Center has a new name. With some big changes around the corner, the center wanted to clarify its role and avoid confusion. So it’s now known as the Retirement Administration Service Center, or RASC.
The new name better defines what the customer service center does — help UC Retirement Plan members with issues related to their pension and retiree health and welfare benefits.
The name change is part of a wider series of adjustments UC is making to its benefits management systems. These adjustments include the creation of the UCPath Center that will enable active employees to manage their benefits through an online portal or by phone with the UCPath Center support staff.
A click away
CA&ES introduces new blog: NewsBeat
UCPath: Looking Forward (June-July edition)
Tahoe Environmental Research Center: summer newsletter
Media Resources
Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu