Associate Chancellor Karl Engelbach has appointed Dana Hinojosa, the campus’s associate ombudsperson, to serve as the interim director of the Ombuds Office.

Katherine Greenwood, the director the last 2½ years, left UC Davis Jan. 4 to be part of the University of Southern California’s newly established ombuds program. Engelbach said UC Davis will conduct a national search to replace her.

Hinojosa joined the Ombuds Office in November 2017. The office is a confidential, independent, impartial, and informal problem-solving and conflict management resource for all members of the UC Davis and UC Davis Health campus communities.

She previously served as the assistant director of learning and engagement at Pepperdine University, facilitating trainings for faculty and staff on topics such as conflict management and negotiation, and productivity in the workplace. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Westmont College (Santa Barbara) and a master’s degree in dispute resolution from Pepperdine.

USC has appointed its first two university ombuds: Greenwood as the director of the Office of the Ombuds on the main campus, and the other as the director on the Health Science Campus.

Zakharvov leads postharvest center

Florence Zakharov, associate professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, is the new director of the Postharvest Technology Center, succeeding Trevor Suslow, Cooperative Extension research specialist emeritus.

In her director’s note in the center’s January newsletter, Zakharov said: “I have been involved with the center since joining the faculty of the Department of Plant Sciences in 2006, and I truly believe in the ‘cross-fertilization’ between industry and academia.”

She earned a Master’s of Science degree in biotechnology and plant breeding from Ecole Nationale Superieure Agronomique de Toulouse (France), and a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry from Purdue University.

Her research interest lies in molecular biology and biochemistry of plant volatile metabolism, with a specific focus on fruit aroma development and regulation. “I am also interested in investigating the chemical determinants of flavor and developing methods for the rapid and objective assessment of fruit flavor quality,” she said.

She has appointed Angelos Deltsidis as the center’s associate director. He is an international postharvest specialist with a split appointment at the Postharvest Technology Center and the Horticulture Innovation Lab.

Deltsidis provides technical support on postharvest technology and physiology for international development projects and conducts lab research. He holds a Ph.D. in horticulture sciences from the University of Florida, where his studies focused on the postharvest life of tomato fruit, and how low temperature storage and modified atmosphere packaging affect fruit quality. He also completed the university’s master’s program in agribusiness in the Department of Food and Resource Economics. 

New director at Retiree Center

The UC Davis Retiree Center announced in its Jan. 22 e-newsletter that Lou Ziskind is the center’s new director, taking over for Becky Heard, who retired last month.

Ziskind has a strong background in directing nonprofit organizations, including service as interim executive director of International House Davis (2015-17); executive director of the Explorit Science Center, Davis (2007-11); chief operating officer of the Girl Scouts’ Joshua Tree Council, Bakersfield (1997-2006); and executive director of Suicide Prevention Service, Sacramento (1991-93).

He has international experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia, and has lived and worked in a number of countries while affiliated with CARE International, Freedom From Hunger Foundation and Feed the Children. 

He is a board member and past president of the Davis Sunset Rotary Club. He lives in Davis with his wife, Linda, who is a past co-president of the University Farm Circle. 

Follow Dateline UC Davis on Twitter.