Meeting Speaker for May 23, 2011

Linda Katehi became the sixth chancellor of the University of California, Davis, on August 17, 2009. As chief executive officer, she oversees all aspects of the university’s teaching, research and public service mission.

Chancellor Katehi also holds UC Davis faculty appointments in electrical and computer engineering and in women and gender studies. Engineering, she chaired until 2010 the President’s Committee for the National Medal of Science and is chair of the Secretary of Commerce’s committee for the National Medal of Technology and Innova¬tion. She is a fellow and board member of the American Association for the Advance¬ment of Science and a member of many other national boards and committees.

Previously, Chancellor Katehi served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; the John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University; and associate dean for academic affairs and graduate education in the College of Engineering and professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan.

Since her early years as a faculty member, Chancellor Katehi has focused on expanding research opportunities for undergraduates and improving the education and profes¬sional experience of graduate students, with an emphasis on underrepresented groups. She has mentored more than 70 postdoctoral fellows, doctoral and master’s students in electrical and computer engineering. Twenty-two of the 45 doctoral students who graduated under her supervision have become faculty members in research universities in the United States and abroad.

Her work in electronic circuit design has led to numerous national and international awards both as a technical leader and educator, 19 U.S. patents, and an additional five U.S. patent applications. She is the author or co-author of 10 book chapters and about 650 refered publications in journals and symposia proceedings.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, in 1977, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from UCLA in 1981 and 1984, respectively.

The University of California, Davis, is one of 10 UC campuses and one of a select group of 62 North American universities admitted to membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities.

For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 32,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $700 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges—Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science—and advanced degrees from six professional schools—Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.