Academia Marye Anne Fox to step down as UC San Diego chancellor

Marye Anne Fox has announced that she will step down next summer after serving nearly eight years as chancellor of the University of California, San Diego. Fox, a physical organic chemist, will return to the department of chemistry and biochemistry to teach and conduct research.

“During her tenure as chancellor at UC San Diego, Marye Anne Fox has added striking breadth and depth to the university’s already sterling reputation,” says Mark G. Yudof, president of the University of California.

“I consider it a privilege beyond measure to work with so many extraordinary scholars, teachers, scientists, doctors, staff members, and students,” Fox says.

In an open letter to the UC San Diego community, Fox described several achievements from her tenure, including completion of a $1 billion capital campaign, initiation of $3.5 billion in capital improvements, addition of 3.4 million sq ft of space in new construction, and a steady increase in the number of faculty elected to the National Academies.

Fox herself is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and she was awarded a National Medal of Science in 2010.

Fox, 63, began her career at the University of Texas, Austin. She advanced to vice president for research and held the M. June & J. Virgil Waggoner Regents Chair in Chemistry. In 1998 she moved to North Carolina State University, where she became chancellor and distinguished university professor of chemistry. She took up her present duties at UC San Diego in 2004.