Virginia Hinshaw, the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Graduate School dean and vice chancellor for research, has been appointed provost and executive vice chancellor at UC Davis.

She assumes her new post July 1, pending approval by the regents.

As provost and executive vice chancellor, Hinshaw, 57, will be the campus's chief academic and financial officer, with special governing responsibility for the UC Davis Medical Center. She also will act for the chancellor in his absence.

"We attracted very highly qualified candidates for this position, and Virginia Hinshaw clearly rose to the top of that list," said Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "Her high-level administrative experience at the University of Wisconsin - one of the nation's finest land-grant universities, with exceptional breadth and depth across its disciplines - will stand her in good stead as UC Davis' provost and executive vice chancellor. We couldn't be more pleased to welcome her to the campus and to our leadership team."

Hinshaw was selected after a five-month search by a committee of faculty and staff members and students that screened more than 90 applicants and nominees from across the nation.

"I'm delighted to be joining UC Davis, a great land-grant university with a highly productive history and a very exciting future," Hinshaw said.

"As it begins a substantial expansion in people, programs and facilities, I'm excited to be able to help maximize the opportunities provided by this growth. UC Davis' contributions in education, research and public service are surely making our world a better place, so I'm proud to be joining the campus and look forward to this new adventure."

Hinshaw has led the Graduate School, the arm of the University of Wisconsin-Madison responsible for graduate education and research, through a time of enormous change and growth. During her tenure, annual research expenditures grew by almost 25 percent from $370 million in 1995 to $476 million in 2000.

At the same time, she successfully navigated increased regulatory pressure from Washington, infused the university's tech-transfer programs with a new spirit and competitiveness, expanded opportunities for graduate students and facilitated better communication with the public.

Among her initiatives were a $200 million endowment program for graduate student support, the establishment of a bioethics committee to review sensitive lines of research, and the creation of a more diverse administrative landscape through naming women faculty members to several key leadership positions on the Madison campus.

As UW-Madison's principal adviser to the chancellor on research, she is responsible for more than 8,600 graduate students in 181 master's and 125 doctoral fields of study, and oversees a $92 million school budget and more than $550 million in extramural funding. The Graduate School also administers more than 20 cross-campus research and service centers.

UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley praised Hinshaw as a "dedicated, creative and energetic leader."

"While I'm sorry to lose someone of Dean Hinshaw's caliber and commitment, she will undoubtedly continue to reflect well on UW-Madison as she helps UC Davis meet the challenges of the future," Wiley said. "We'll miss her very much."

Hinshaw joined the faculty of the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine in 1985. Her primary research focus was virology, specifically influenza viruses.

In 1988, she was named interim associate dean for research and graduate studies for the School of Veterinary Medicine, and in 1994 she was named a UW-Madison associate vice chancellor. She became dean of the Graduate School and vice chancellor for research in 1995.

Previously she served as a research virologist at the UC Berkeley, as an associate member of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and as a visiting research virologist at Harvard Medical School.

She received a bachelor's degree in laboratory technology in 1966 and a master's degree in microbiology in 1967, both from Auburn University. After working at the Medical College of Virginia as a clinical and research microbiologist, she returned to Auburn University in 1970, receiving a Ph.D. in microbiology in 1972.

Hinshaw succeeds Robert D. Grey, who announced last December his intention to step down in July after eight years of service in the campus's No. 2 administrative post. He will complete a six-month sabbatical before assuming a temporary assignment as senior adviser to the chancellor.