Hello Highlanders,
It is with great pleasure that I officially join the UC Riverside family today as Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor. There are few universities as well-positioned as UCR to take on the complex and intersectional challenges confronting our world today, and even fewer that can take pride in their core values and inclusive excellence the way UCR can.
Joining America’s Fastest Rising University is a privilege and I am dedicated to ensuring my stewardship maintains the existing momentum and upward trajectory. While I take the summer months to get to know you and our campus better, I want to relay what I know we already have in common. I share your passions for social justice, community collaboration, transformative research, and enterprising inquiry. I share your vision for UCR to grow sustainably and to continue to redefine and rise through the ranks of higher education. I also share your anticipation to explore and discover our new normal this fall. And, importantly, I share your existing commitment to prioritize the health and safety of our faculty, staff, and students first and foremost, as we return to campus.
I am ready to get to work and am honored to do so alongside such an outstanding faculty and exceptional staff. My efforts here at UC Riverside will be served by my knowledge of the UC system and will draw from my experience with shared governance, growing research enterprises, and developing university programs to support students and faculty at all stages in their academic careers.
I look forward to getting to know the individuals and groups that make up UCR’s dynamic and diverse community. I am optimistic about our future and our ability to navigate toward brighter times, and as we move forward together, I will be sending regular communications to keep you informed about our progress.
Sincerely,
Liz
Elizabeth Watkins
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
University of California, Riverside