Dear Campus Community,
I am pleased to announce that Jeff Gilger, professor of Psychology and the Carlton Cunningham Chair in Cognitive Development at UC Merced, has agreed to serve as interim dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts for a two-year term, effective immediately. He will assume the duties of Jill Robbins, who is returning to the faculty after serving nearly three years as dean.
This will be Jeff’s second term as interim dean of SSHA, having served capably in that role for several months in 2015. Prior to joining UC Merced in 2011, Jeff held academic and administrative positions at several major universities, most recently as an associate dean at Purdue. He has an M.S. in Clinical Child/School Psychology, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology with a specialty in Behavioral Genetics. His scholarship is multidisciplinary, spanning medicine, education, genetics and neuroscience, with an emphasis on atypical development in the areas of learning and cognition.
Jeff serves on numerous advisory, editorial and review boards for national and international grant agencies, publications and professional organizations. In 2016, he established UC Merced’s Alliance for Child and Family Health and Development, a research and engagement center aimed at populations in Merced County and local rural and mountain communities. He also leads a California First Five project called “Help for My Child,” which provides virtual resources for referrals and information on disabilities for parents with children 5 years old and younger.
Please join me in thanking Jeff for his willingness to assume this role, and in thanking Jill for her service as dean.
Sincerely,
Gregg Camfield
Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
