- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Or, as UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and former chair of the Department of Entomology, says: "Most of our colleagues remain so active that we are unaware of their 'retirement' until we see their signature with the suffix emeritus, emerita, or emeriti in an email or another document."
"Meanwhile, we members of the non-emeriti UC Davis faculty are so busy writing grants, manuscripts, and books; performing research and scholarly creative work; teaching; and engaging in critical services to the university and professional societies that we end up with little or no opportunities to get together and thank our faculty colleagues at the time of their retirement."
To honor his UC Davis colleagues, Leal created a video, "Tribute to Our New Emeriti," featuring 24 professors from eight colleges and schools who transitioned to emeriti in 2021-2022.
"The retiring faculty and their predecessors made the university a better place to thrive as we pursue research, scholarly work, and services and fulfill the university's instructional mission," he wrote on his YouTube site.
The video "highlights the accomplishments of those who have allowed us to acknowledge publicly their contributions to the various missions of the university over the last few decades," Leal said.
Leal noted that many "emeriti continue to make relevant contributions to UC Davis, including outstanding achievements in research and scholarly creative work, teaching and mentorship, services to professional societies, and outreach."
In his introductory remarks, Leal called attention to emeritus professor and medical entomologist Robert Washino, via text and images. Washino, who turned 90 this year, "epitomizes how emeriti continue to be engaged with the UC Davis mission," Leal said. "When I interviewed for a faculty position here, about 23 years ago, Bob was chairing the Search Committee."
Washino, who holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, joined the faculty in 1967, chaired the entomology department from 1981-1987, and served as associate dean in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) from 1987 until his retirement in 1993. From 1996 to 2001, he served as special assistant to the CAES Dean. During "retirement," he also directed the Center for Vector-borne Diseases, "which laid the foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-sponsored Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases. Leal serves as one of the principal investigators at the Center, now led by Chris Barker of the School of Veterinary Medicine and the Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Also during his "retirement," Washino chaired the entomology department chair in 2005-2006. "To date, Bob remains as a 'go-to-person' for guidance in our vector biology activities at UC Davis," Leal pointed out. "Bob is an integral part of the UC Davis Emeriti Association that provides crucial support for excellence at UC Davis."
In the video, Leal covers these emeriti:
- College of Biological Sciences: Harris Lewin and Sharon Strauss
- College of Engineering: Bruce Gates
- College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: Mark Grismer, Mark Schwartz, Andrew Waterhouse, Beth Ober, Steven Morgan, Edward DePeters and Julian Alston
- School of Medicine: Jay Solnick and Fredric Gorin
- School of Veterinary Medicine: Laurel Gershwin and Frank J. M. Verstraete
- College of Letters and Science: Sandra Carlson, Daniel Cox, Lynnette Hunter, Robert Feenstra, Geerat Vermeij, Robert Bayley and Gina Werfel
- School of Law: Judy Cusumano Janes
- Graduate School of Management: Brad Barber and Chih-Ling Tsai
In closing, Leal commented: "When you learn of a retiring faculty member, please take the opportunity to thank them for their accomplishments and for making the university a better place for us to thrive as we pursue research and scholarly work, services, and fulfill the instructional mission of the university."
He also mentioned the New Emeriti Lecture series in the fall, winter, and spring quarters. "Harris Lewin will deliver the inaugural lecture on Dec. 7, 2022. The winter lecture will be presented by Geerat Vermeij on Feb. 15, 2023. The series ends with the spring lecture by Sharon Strauss on April 19, 2023. All lectures are at 5 p.m., Pacific Time (in person and via ZOOM)."
![This 2006 image of UC Davis medical entomologist Bob Washino (left) shows him with Richard Bohart (1913-2007), for whom the Bohart Museum of Entomology is named. At the time, Washino was serving as chair of the Department of Entomology, and Bohart was being honored with a Distinguished Research Medal from the International Society of Hymenopterists. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) This 2006 image of UC Davis medical entomologist Bob Washino (left) shows him with Richard Bohart (1913-2007), for whom the Bohart Museum of Entomology is named. At the time, Washino was serving as chair of the Department of Entomology, and Bohart was being honored with a Distinguished Research Medal from the International Society of Hymenopterists. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/95699.jpg)
- Author: Wendy Powers
I took a 4-day trip last week to help someone move across the country. Two vehicles, two drivers, 4 dogs. It is not a trip I would recommend. However, I never tire of seeing the snow-covered mountains, whether it be the Sierra, the Wasatch, or the Rockies. Oddly, and perhaps fitting, this trip the best views seemed to be when I looked in the rear view mirror. The road trip took me through Iowa, past highway 169 that would take us to our house of many years ago and highway 69 that runs into campus. The next day, we drove past I-69 in Michigan, the road to Lansing. I have had the good fortune of spending time in great places, with great people. Eventually we made our way to the waters of the east coast, where we were greeted with 4 days of rain, followed by heat and humidity. A vastly different place, with its own endearing attributes.
While I was in the car, a lot of good things happened at UC ANR. Our retiring academics were busy putting together emeritus package requests. Program Council will review more emeritus requests when it meets next week. The Council of University of California Emeriti Associations (CUCEA) recently published UC emeriti activity equal to an 11th UC campus, survey finds on UCnet, featuring the highlights of A Virtual Eleventh Campus: The Tenth Inventory of University of California Emeriti Activity. The article confirms the substantial contributions of UC emeriti, including teaching, research, creative work, professional and community service, mentoring and more. While UC ANR emeriti are not considered part of CUCEA, we know well the value of emeriti contributions to Cooperative Extension and the work of UC ANR!
Congratulations to the California Let's Eat Healthy Leadership Award winners! Awardees include individuals and organizations, including the UC CalFresh program that is a partnership between UC Davis and UC ANR. Congratulations to the entire team and especially MaryAnn for her leadership of the program!
This week the UC ANR Governing Council meets in Hopland. I am looking forward to the in-person meeting, even if we need to take face covering protections. It is not often that the Governing Council meets in person and this will be the second meeting at a REC, having met at South Coast in February 2020.
I will spend most of Friday finishing up merit and promotion decisions and write-ups. For the most part, this year's process will be in the rear view mirror by this time next week. Time flies, particularly when you are not bored!
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
UC invites comments on proposed revisions to Academic Personnel Manual Section 120 (APM - 120), Emerita/Emeritus Titles.
In May of 2018, the Board of Regents rescinded Standing Order 103.5 relating to the conferral of emeritus status and incorporated the provisions into Regents Policy 1203: Policy on Emerita/Emeritus Title Suffix. The revised Regents Policy changed eligibility requirements regarding automatic emeritus status for non-tenured Senate faculty, such as Professors of Clinical (e.g., Medicine), Professors in Residence, and Lecturers with Security of Employment. Recommended changes to the Regents Policy were developed with the input of the Academic Senate and UCOP Academic Affairs.
Because APM policy cannot conflict with Regents Policy, technical revisions to APM - 120 were issued on July 1, 2019, to conform with revised Regents Policy 1203. As noted in the July 1, 2019 issuance letter, we anticipated that a systemwide review of APM - 120 would be forthcoming to consider whether systemwide criteria for the recommendation of non-tenured Senate faculty was necessary, among other things. Summarized below are the proposed key revisions that are now being distributed for systemwide review.
- Gender inclusive title suffix. For the purposes of APM - 120, the abbreviation of “Emer.” is proposed to be recognized as the gender inclusive form of the title suffix. Academic appointees may choose to use the title suffix Emerita, Emeritus or the abbreviation of “Emer.”
- Criteria for the recommendation of non-tenured Senate faculty.Some campuses expressed a desire for systemwide criteria regarding the emeriti status of non-tenured Senate faculty, while other campuses expressed a desire to be permitted to develop local criteria through local campus policies and procedures. The revised policy proposes that these individuals be judged by “evidence of noteworthy and meritorious contributions to the educational mission and programs of the University, as determined by local procedures.”
- Disqualification criteria. Criteria for the disqualification of non-tenured Senate faculty or non-Senate appointees is proposed in APM - 120-10-c and -d. This language mirrors the language contained in Regents Policy 1203 concerning Senior Management Group appointees.
- Deans and Faculty Administrators. A new subsection, APM - 120-10-e, is proposed to address the conferral of the Emerita/Emeritus/Emer. title suffix for Dean or Faculty Administrator titles. In addition, new language has been added to APM - 120-10-a to clarify that individuals must hold a title at the time of retirement in order to be eligible to be conferred the title suffix with that particular title.
- Definition of “retirement” for Savings Choice participants. Under the Savings Choice program, there is no longer a formal “retirement” for participants due to the nature of the program. For the purposes of APM - 120, it is proposed that “retirement” for Savings Choice participants be defined as separation from the University after reaching normal retirement age (as defined in the UCRP) with five or more years of service.
- Clarification of curtailment authority. Language is proposed in APM - 120-24 to clarify authority for the curtailment of emeritus status.
- Rescission and incorporation of Appendix A. The previous Appendix A documents relating to space resource allocation are proposed for rescission, as the key principles of the documents have been incorporated into the policy text in APM - 120-80-d.
The proposed revisions to APM - 120, Emerita/Emeritus Title Suffix, are posted under the “Systemwide Review” tab at https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/academic-personnel-policy/policies-under-review/index.html.
If you have any questions or if you wish to comment, please contact Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu, no later than Feb. 28, 2020.