The College of Letters & Science is made up of four distinct divisions: the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts; the Division of Mathematical, Life, and Physical Sciences; the Division of Social Sciences and the Division of Undergraduate Education. Each of our divisions is led by a senior administrator.
Pierre Wiltzius
Executive Dean and Dean of Science
Pierre Wiltzius is the Susan and Bruce Worster Dean of Science and Professor of Physics. Prior to his arrival at UC Santa Barbara, he was the Director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He joined Lucent Technologies - Bell Laboratories (formerly AT&T Bell Laboratories) in 1984 and eventually became the director of semiconductor physics research. His research interests include soft condensed matter and complex fluids. His current research is focused on developing new fabrication techniques for photonic crystals, including colloidal self-assembly and multi-beam interference lithography. Wiltzius received the degree of Diplomphysiker in 1976 and the degree of Dr. sc. nat. in 1981 from the E.T.H. (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Zurich, Switzerland. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Physics Department at UC Santa Barbara from 1982 to 1984.
Mary Hancock
acting Dean of humanities and fine arts
Mary Hancock is the acting dean of the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts. She holds a joint appointment in the departments of anthropology and history. She earned an A.B. in anthropology from Smith College and a Ph.D., also in anthropology, from the University of Pennsylvania.
Charles Hale
dean of social sciences
Charles Hale is the SAGE Sara Miller McCune Dean of Social Sciences as well as a professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Global Studies. He is a leading social science scholar whose research bridges multiple disciplines, with a focus on race and ethnicity, racism, social movements and identity politics among Black and indigenous peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean. He is highly regarded for his innovations in collaborative approaches, which characterize not only his research and teaching, but his administrative leadership as well. Hale, who previously taught at the University of Texas, Austin, is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship for research and teaching in Oaxaca, Mexico. He earned his B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard University, and his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Stanford University.
Michael Miller
Interim associate vice chancellor for Undergraduate education
Michael Miller is the Interim AVC for Undergraduate Education. He is also a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. He studies the psychological and neural processes underlying human memory and decision-making.. Miller is the vice director of the Sage Center for the Study of the Mind and editor of The Year in Cognitive Neuroscience, an annual review published by the New York Academy of Sciences. He received his B.A. in Psychology from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Dartmouth College.