Phyllis M. Wise, professor and chair of physiology at the University of Kentucky, has been appointed dean of the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Davis.

She assumes her new post Jan. 1, pending approval by the UC Board of Regents.

As dean, Wise, 56, will function as the chief academic and administrative officer for the Division of Biological Sciences, an intercollege unit with 110 faculty and 126 staff members. The division, which plays a leading role in coordinating and planning campuswide programs in biology, administers nine undergraduate majors involving some 3,500 students and provides administrative support for 11 graduate groups involving an additional 500 students. Its five divisional sections represent major themes of modern biology -- evolution and ecology; microbiology; molecular and cellular biology; neurobiology, physiology and behavior; and plant biology.

"Professor Wise is quite a catch for us," said UC Davis Chancellor Larry N. Vanderhoef. "She has a broad and collaborative vision for the biological sciences and demonstrated success in bringing creative ideas to life. As well, her own rigorous research record will serve the campus and the Division of Biological Sciences well."

Wise was selected after a nine-month search by a committee of faculty, staff and students that screened more than 75 applications and nominations from across the nation.

"I am eager to join the administrative team and the wonderful faculty and staff of the Division of Biological Sciences during these exciting times," Wise said. "Together, we will build on the already considerable strengths of the division and undertake new initiatives in the life sciences. I am certain that it will be challenging, stimulating and rewarding."

Wise's research interests encompass endocrine and neurochemical mechanisms during aging, and estrogen's neuroprotective actions after injury and during aging. Exceptionally successful in winning grant support, she currently is the recipient of a National Institutes of Health MERIT Award and other NIH program grant support totaling more than $4.6 million as well as $8 million in funding from the National Center for Research Resources.

She is the author or co-author of more than 100 journal articles and some 50 chapters and reviews, and has been a member of several journal editorial boards. Her scientific society memberships include the Society for Neuroscience, Endocrine Society, American Physiological Society, Gerontological Society of America and the Society for the Study of Reproduction.

Wise has been chair of the University of Kentucky's Department of Physiology since 1993, when she was recruited from the University of Maryland's School of Medicine. She joined Maryland in 1976, after two years as an adjunct assistant professor and research associate at the University of New Mexico and two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan.

She holds a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College, and a master's and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Wise succeeds Mark McNamee, who announced last year that, after more than a decade of division leadership as dean and department chair, he was "ready to think about a change." Last month he was named provost of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and will depart UC Davis July 1 after 26 years of service.

An acting dean will be appointed soon to guide the division during the six months between McNamee's departure and Wise's arrival.