Professor and author Patricia A. Turner, vice provost of Undergraduate Education for the last 13 years, is switching UC campuses, moving to UCLA come Jan. 1 to serve as its dean and vice provost of Undergraduate Education.

Turner

“Pat has been a tireless advocate for our students, and one of the most effective,” said Ralph J. Hexter, UC Davis provost and executive vice chancellor. “It is hard to see her go, but there is some consolation in knowing that her talents will remain in the University of California.”

Turner, a folklorist, joined the UC Davis faculty in 1990. Looking back, she said, “My decision to come here was one of the best of my life, personally and professionally.”

She holds appointments in the African American and African Studies Program (serving as director, 1998 to 2000), and the American Studies Program (director, 1997 to 1998).

In 1999, “although I had very little administrative experience, Larry Vanderhoef, who was the chancellor then, offered me the vice provost position,” Turner said. She would go on to serve as interim dean of the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies from 2004 to 2006.

“I have learned so much from my years here,” she said. “My husband and I raised our son during my Davis years, and we have all made lifelong friends.”

In her research, in her frequent newspaper opinion pieces and in her consulting work for documentary films, Turner focuses on racial dynamics in folklore and popular culture.

Her books include Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African-American Quilters, Whispers on the Color Line: Rumor and Race in America, and Ceramic Uncles and Celluloid Mammies: Black Images and Their Influence on Culture.

Turner is chair of the governing committee for UC’s Education Abroad Program, and a member of the UC Washington Center’s Academic Advisory Council. She is the executive director of The Reinvention Center, a national consortium of research universities dedicated to strengthening undergraduate education.

Scott L. Waugh, executive vice chancellor and provost at UCLA, announced Turner’s appointment today (July 11). “We all recognize that undergraduate education is of paramount importance to UCLA, and I am confident that Pat will provide outstanding leadership as vice provost and dean,” Waugh said in a statement.

Turner said she is looking forward to new challenges at UCLA. “I’m delighted that the next chapter of my career will be at a UC campus,” she said. “I’ll be keeping all my Aggie T-shirts, just adding some Bruin shirts to the mix.”

Turner holds a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from the State University of New York, Oneonta; and a master’s degree and doctorate in rhetoric from UC Berkeley.

Hexter said he will soon announce the launch of a search for Turner’s successor.

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