George R. “Ron” Mangun has announced that he will step down as dean of the Division of Social Sciences and return to the faculty effective July 1, or as soon as an interim dean can be appointed.

Mangun

Mangun, founding director of the Center for Mind and Brain, has served as dean since 2008.

“Countless faculty and students have benefited from Ron’s leadership,” Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi said. “He has been an outstanding administrator and educator, and the entire university owes him a great debt of gratitude.”

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter expressed similar gratitude in a letter today (May 5) to the Council of Deans and Vice Chancellors and the Division of Social Sciences. Hexter noted Mangun’s dedication to the division and UC Davis and added: “I wish him well and look forward to working with him as he continues his distinguished faculty career.”

Mangun came to UC Davis from Dartmouth College in 1992 as a founding faculty member of the Center for Neuroscience, and, after a period at Duke University where he led a campus initiative, returned to UC Davis to establish and lead the Center for Mind and Brain, where his laboratory is located, and where he will now focus his efforts as a distinguished professor of psychology and neurology.

Under Mangun’s leadership, the Division of Social Sciences rose in the national rankings, doubled its extramural support of research and hit its fundraising target twice-over in The Campaign for UC Davis.

The division also posted continued success in undergraduate education. Social sciences degrees account for well over one-third of all undergraduate degrees awarded annually at UC Davis.

Initiatives launched under Mangun’s leadership include the Center for Science and Innovation Studies, the national Center for Poverty Research, the Institute for Social Sciences, and, most recently, the Data Studies Initiative for the liberal arts.

Mangun said he valued his time as dean, and was grateful to the students and all those he served with across campus, as well as  “to my departmental colleagues in psychology, neurology and the Center for Mind and Brain, and perhaps especially to the members of my lab. Without their understanding, support, and even encouragement, it would have been unbearable to spend so much time away from them.”

Follow Dateline UC Davis on Twitter.