The University of Nebraska-Lincoln today (Dec. 11) named Elizabeth Spiller, dean of the UC Davis College of Letters and Science since 2017, to be Nebraska’s executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs starting in March. Nebraska Chancellor Ronnie Green announced the appointment, which is subject to approval by the university’s Board of Regents.
UC Davis Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter, in a message notifying the Council of Deans and Vice Chancellors of Spiller’s departure, said: “I want to express my sincere gratitude to Elizabeth for her leadership of the College of Letters and Science during a critical time in the college’s evolution, and I wish her all the best in her new endeavors as the chief academic officer at UNL.”
Spiller’s appointment at UC Davis marked the College of Letters and Science’s return to a governance structure headed by a single dean, as recommended by the provost’s work group on the reorganization of L&S. The college had been operating with three deans, one for each of three divisions: Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies, or HArCS; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; and Social Sciences.
Spiller, a professor of English, came to UC Davis from Virginia Tech, where she served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Before that she served as an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida State University.
Hexter said he and Chancellor Gary S. May had determined the next provost and executive vice chancellor — the successor to Hexter, who is in his last year in the post — will direct the Letters and Science dean recruitment and that it is likely to commence in the 2020-21 academic year.
The recruitment for provost and executive vice chancellor is going on now, after Hexter announced in September that he intended to step down at the end of this academic year, after 9½ years in the post.
Hexter said he and the chancellor will appoint an interim dean for the College of Letters and Science, someone to serve while the university conducts the recruitments for provost and executive vice chancellor and then permanent dean. Hexter said he will soon provide information on the process of identifying candidates and making the interim appointment.