Website University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley seeks a visionary and courageous leader and accomplished scholar with a commitment to social and racial justice to serve as the next Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy.

UC Berkeley is internationally renowned for excellence, for the opportunities it affords students of all backgrounds, and for pioneering achievements across all disciplines. The Berkeley campus is home to more than 31,000 undergraduates and more than 11,000 graduate students, and approximately 1,500 ladder-rank faculty across 14 schools and colleges.

Founded in 1969 and among the first graduate schools of its kind, the Goldman School of Public Policy (GSPP) is built on several distinctive qualities: a strong quantitative core, an analytic “tool kit,” committed faculty, a strong sense of community, and hands-on experience. Since then, GSPP has enjoyed preeminent standing on the strength of the distinction of its faculty, the excellence of its programs and the achievements of its alumni. Recognizing GSPP’s outstanding teaching and research, US News and World Report consistently ranks it as a top tier school, including number one in the nation among its peer institutions for policy analysis in 2020. With its combination of academic excellence and policy expertise, the Goldman School offers extensive knowledge and in-depth capability for advancing Berkeley’s signature initiatives aimed at tackling the challenges of the 21st century. GSPP leads the way in addressing the problem of inequality in America, improving democratic institutions and governance, dealing with climate change and ensuring environmental justice, thinking about the future of higher education, ensuring health and fair employment in the food sector, and using data science and big data to solve public policy problems.

GSPP equips students – recruited to UC Berkeley from across the globe – to apply cutting-edge data tools and evidence from inter-disciplinary research to solve pressing public policy problems. They apply themselves to their studies with drive and commitment, working on policy analysis projects with real-world clients. After they graduate, government agencies, think tanks, financial institutions, consulting firms, foundations, and nonprofit organizations recruit the School’s MPPs, MPAs, and PhDs for positions of influence and leadership, at the forefront of policy innovation around the world.

To train these students, GSPP’s faculty members must be both first-rate academics—one-third are fellows of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences—and action-oriented policy innovators with wide experience working in government and the nonprofit sector. Interdisciplinary by design, GSPP draws faculty from economics, political science, social psychology, engineering, demography, statistics, and law. Committed to the scientific and non-ideological analysis of public policies, faculty draft legislation and offer public policy decision-makers expert consultation in a wide array of areas. In this way, GSPP exerts a powerful and trustworthy influence for the good of society while it benefits from the firsthand experience of real-world policy implementation.

The next Dean will bring the imagination and wherewithal to fully embrace the extraordinary moment in time we are experiencing nationally and globally and the courage, groundedness, and stamina to harness the internal and external power needed to propel us forward. The next Dean will possess the passion and desire to inspire and cultivate the public policy leaders of today and tomorrow, the political fortitude and focus to grow the school and bolster its financial security, and the vision and skill to realize the School’s great ambition to be a leading beacon of evidence, truth, and policy thought that transforms society for the better. They will provide strategic and intellectual leadership for the School, while fully realizing synergies within the School and across UC Berkeley. The Dean will provide adept operational oversight of the School in a complex institutional environment grounded in shared governance and a deep commitment to graduate education. They will actively promote an institutional culture rooted in diversity, equity and inclusion. The new Dean will strengthen the School through philanthropic support, strategic partnerships and innovative ways of diversifying revenue, and engage and inspire stakeholders within the school and across the campus to amplify the impact of UC Berkeley and enhance the distinction of the Goldman School.

The successful candidate will have a record of scholarly achievement that merits a tenured appointment at UC Berkeley at the rank of full Professor and will, through previous experience, including possibly as a public policy professional, demonstrate commitment to excellence in the study, teaching, and practice of public policy. The new Dean will demonstrate a record of responsible organizational leadership; success in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion; evidence of, or potential for success in, fundraising; a record of creating consensus typified by a collaborative, open, and accessible approach; and provide a strong and influential voice for the need to transform our society.

Inquiries, nominations, and applications are invited. The leadership profile can be reviewed at www.wittkieffer.com. Applicants must submit a CV, preferably with a letter of interest, via WittKieffer’s candidate portal or by email. Applicants must also apply directly to UC Berkeley at https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF02703. For fullest consideration, materials should be received by October 30, 2020. An earned terminal degree, or the international equivalent, by the time of application is required. Confidential nominations, inquiries, and applications can be directed to: Suzanne Teer, Veena Abraham, J.D., and Jessica Herrington at BerkeleyGoldman@wittkieffer.com.

The University of California, Berkeley, is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer with a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status.

For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see: http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct.

To apply for this job please visit candidateportal.wittkieffer.com.