Two senior academic leaders will provide interim leadership as deans of the College of Engineering and of the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Davis, until permanent successors are on board.

Zuhair Munir, initially appointed interim dean of the College of Engineering last October when Alan Laub announced his resignation, has agreed to extend his appointment until the search for a permanent successor is completed. A faculty member since 1972, Munir had been the college's associate dean for research and graduate studies before being tapped to temporarily lead the college.

"I am delighted that Zuhair has agreed to stay on as dean while we continue the search," said UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "Both the department chairs and the executive committee of the College of Engineering gave him an extraordinarily high level of support for continuing. He will have full authority to make decisions and take initiatives that will continue the momentum of the college, and the provost and I will help in any way we can."

Said Munir: "The support of the college's faculty and staff this past year has been most gratifying, and I am pleased to have the opportunity to continue serving the college for another year during this exciting, rapid-growth period. With their help and dedication, I am confident we can continue to move our college ever closer to achieving the goal of being among the outstanding engineering schools in the country."

Leo Chalupa, chair of the neurobiology, physiology and behavior section of the Division of Biological Sciences, will serve as dean of the division until newly appointed dean Phyllis Wise arrives in early January from the University of Kentucky, where she currently serves as chair of the physiology department. Wise succeeds Mark McNamee, who departs July 1 to become provost of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

"We are fortunate that Leo Chalupa has agreed to serve as dean of the Division of Biological Sciences until the arrival of Dean-designate Phyllis Wise," Vanderhoef said. "Leo has the strong support of the administrative advisory committee of the division, and Provost Grey and I, as well, have full confidence in his ability to lead the division effectively."

Said Chalupa: "UC Davis has a well-deserved reputation for excellence in biology, both in research and in teaching. It's very important that we maintain our momentum during this period of transition in the biological sciences. In accepting this appointment, I will certainly do whatever I can to keep us focused on the goal of attaining pre-eminence in all aspects of the biological sciences."

Chalupa joined the UC Davis faculty in 1975 and has served as founding member of the neuroscience graduate group, acting director of the Center for Neurobiology and director of the Center for Neuroscience. A professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology, he has chaired the division's neurobiology, physiology and behavior section since 1998.

Both Chalupa and Munir direct successful research programs and are active in their disciplines.

Chalupa currently holds two National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants totaling more than $4 million. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an NIH Fogarty International Senior Fellow, member of Sigma Xi honorary society and of the Society for Neuroscience, and author of more than 250 scholarly papers.

Munir's research grants total more than $1 million from such sources as the National Science Foundation, NASA and the Army Research Office. He is a fellow of the American Ceramics Society and of the American Society for Metals, recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Award, editor in chief of The Journal of Materials Synthesis and Processing, principal editor of the Journal of Materials Research, author of more than 310 scholarly papers and holder of 10 patents.

The College of Engineering, which offers the largest number of accredited engineering majors in the UC system, has 2,800 undergraduate and 750 graduate students, 160 faculty members and 170 staff members.

The Division of Biological Sciences, which plays a leadership role in coordinating and planning campuswide programs in biology, administers nine undergraduate majors involving some 3,500 students and provides administrative support for 11 graduate groups involving an additional 500 students. It has 110 faculty and 126 staff members.