Douglas Haynes to join UCOP

To the Anteater community:

It is with great pride that I announce that today the Board of Regents approved the appointment of Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Douglas M. Haynes as the University of California’s next vice provost for academic personnel and programs. He will take up his new responsibilities on October 4.

Professor Haynes, who holds faculty appointments in the Department of History and the Department of African American Studies, has served as UCI’s inaugural vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer since 2019. In that role, he has overseen the nation-leading efforts that have established UCI as a global model of inclusive excellence. Prior to that, he served as vice provost for academic equity, diversity and inclusion, as well as director of the UCI ADVANCE program.

A former Fulbright Scholar and President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Douglas Haynes earned his Ph.D. in modern European history at the University of California, Berkeley and his B.A. in history from Pomona College. During his final undergraduate year, he studied history at University College, Oxford University. He joined the UCI faculty in 1992, and his research and teaching interests span from the development of the modern medical profession and comparative health care systems to representations of disease and illness in the mass media. As a designated Chancellor’s Research Fellow, Professor Haynes served as the founding director of the Center for Medical Humanities, leading path-breaking collaborations among faculty from the schools of the arts, humanities and medicine to advance the understanding of health, healing and well-being. He was also a founding faculty member of the Department of African American Studies and served as the inaugural director of the undergraduate program in Global Cultures.

As vice chancellor, and before that as vice provost, Professor Haynes has been a compelling advocate for building a community where all expect equity, support diversity, practice inclusion and honor free speech through intention, communication, cooperation and collaboration. He has led our efforts to confront extremism; generated academic programming on bias, prejudice and bigotry; and helped UCI twice become a federally recognized minority-serving institution. I shall miss his wise counsel, steady hand, and good humor.

In his new position, which reports to the systemwide provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, Professor Haynes will have responsibility for UC’s 74,000 academic personnel, including supporting the inclusive success of academic appointees attracted to its 10 campuses, five academic medical centers, and three national laboratories. He will have oversight responsibility for several systemwide academic programs, including the California Digital Library, UC Press, President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, UC Center Sacramento, UC Washington Center (UCDC), UCTV, and the Advancing Faculty Diversity program. As vice provost, Professor Haynes will work closely with the Academic Senate and university leaders to assure academic priorities are met. In addition, he will function as a spokesperson to the regents, the legislature, and other outside agencies as needed.

Professor Haynes takes with him our congratulations and best wishes, and he leaves an enduring legacy of fostering inclusive excellence. There will be a campus-wide celebration of his distinguished service in the near future. We will conduct a national search to find our next vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion.

Fiat Lux,

Chancellor Howard Gillman