Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi

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, including the UC Davis Health System and its acute-care teaching hospital in Sacramento, one of the nation’s leading medical schools, a new school of nursing and a multi-specialty physician group that serves 33 counties and six million residents.

Even though she came to UC Davis during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Chancellor Katehi continues to move the university forward, and along with her leadership team, she has achieved a number of crucial initiatives that have enhanced UC Davis’ reputation for excellence.
In March 2013, after months of study and consultation with campus and regional stakeholders, the university moved forward on its 2020 Initiative to strategically add up to 5,000 new students by the end of the decade, along with corresponding increases in graduate students, faculty, staff and facilities. The 2020 plan will allow UC Davis to achieve greater financial stability and increase the campus’ national and international diversity, so all of its students are better equipped to compete in the 21st Century global economy.

A few months later, in June 2013, after a similarly collaborative process, Chancellor Katehi established the UC Davis World Food Center. Taking advantage of the University’s global preeminence in agriculture and sustainability, the Center will tackle some of the most critical issues facing our world today, including how to feed and nourish a growing planet in an environmentally friendly way, and the nexus between food and human health.

As these initiatives were advancing, Chancellor Katehi’s leadership team closed in on another crucial goal for the university, this one a full year ahead of schedule: raising $1 billion for student scholarships, programs, facilities and other academic support from 100,000 individual donors. The success of the university’s first-ever comprehensive Campaign for UC Davis has been vital to the campus’ continuing progress in the face of declining state investments in higher education.

In addition to her role as Chancellor, Linda Katehi also holds UC Davis faculty appointments in electrical and computer engineering and in women and gender studies. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, she chaired until 2010 the President’s Committee for the National Medal of Science and the Secretary of Commerce’s committee for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a member of many other national boards and committees.
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 more than 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 more than 33,000 students, more than 2,500 faculty, more than 22,000 staff, an annual research budget of nearly $750 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. It also houses six professional schools — Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.

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 professional 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 44 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 several additional U.S. patent applications. She is the author or co-author of 10 book chapters and about 650 refereed 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.