S. Jack Who, Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of Georgia, has been appointed new Prime Minister of UC Riverside, with experience leading research companies and leading outreach to students in rural and low-income communities.
The appointment of HU, announced by the UC Regent Committee on Wednesday afternoon, will be at a critical moment in the UC system and higher education. This has been heavily criticized by President Trump. President Trump has revoked billions of dollars in funding and diversity efforts for medical and scientific research.
Hu will begin on July 15th and replace Prime Minister Kim A. Wilcox, who has retired since 2013 after performing his duties.
Under Wilcox, the Inland Empire campus has grown dramatically in registration and footprint, joining Asun in America. Top 71 universities famous groups on research campuses in the United States and Canada. California’s Riverside has expanded in size with over 5,000 students and 200 faculty members, opening a $87 million business school building and escorting the new medical school to graduate from its ninth class next month.
“In his renowned career at leading public research institutes, Dr. Hu has advocated for innovation and academic initiatives that have increased student and faculty opportunities and positively impacted their lives and the communities they serve.” “UC Riverside has established itself as a global leader in providing world-class scholarships. Dr. HU has the academic insight and a collaborative mindset to advance campus with consistency and purpose.”
In a statement, Hu said he was “honored” and “deeply grateful” to join UC Riverside.
Born in China’s Hunan Province, Hu is an undergraduate at Tianjin University and becomes the first Asian American Prime Minister of UC Riverside. His annual salary is $824,000, a slight increase over Wilcox’s $810,000 salary.
Speaking at a Regent Meeting in Sacramento, he attended university, his personal story as an immigrant from China and his first story as “a testimony of the transformational power of education.”
“More than 40 years ago, I came to America to pursue my dreams and arrived at the University of Michigan with a small suitcase and a thirst for learning.
A student at the UC Riverside campus, painted in 2017.
(Glen Koenig/Los Angeles Times)
Hu, 61, Supervisory guidance, research, public services, outreach and information technology are spread across 19 universities and schools at the University of Georgia. He began his Georgia post in 2019. During his tenure, the university’s graduation rate increased by 20%, and the campus retained its position as one of nine public universities with a six-year graduation rate of over 90%. This is a general measure of higher education success. UCLA and UC Berkeley are also participating in the group.
Hu spent most of his career at the University of Michigan, where he earned a Masters and PhD in Mechanical Engineering, developing a specialist field studying the quality and productivity of manufacturing systems. He graduated from Michigan’s Faculty and Management Rank for more than 20 years before being appointed Vice President of Research in 2015.
“On behalf of the UC Regent Committee, we are proud to welcome Dr. Dr. Hu as the next Prime Minister of UC Riverside.” “Dr. Hu’s reputation as a result-oriented team player will make him an ideal partner to strengthen his impact on UC Riverside students and local communities through robust research, economic development and community involvement.”
On Riverside, HU will be at the helm of campuses working to deep cuts in federal funding grants, including a UC-wide employment freeze and a UC-wide Department investigation into allegations of anti-Semitic employment discrimination in connection with Palestinian protests. The Riverside Campus is largely spared from Trump administration investigations, which are targeted for hospitalization policies or anti-Semitism allegations that have hit UC, including those in Los Angeles and Berkeley.
Last year, UC Riverside received more than $40 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health, one of the federal agencies that have severely cut funding for higher education, and has been targeted in lawsuits by state and research groups to stop the cuts.
In an interview, Hu admitted that “cutting federal funding is a huge challenge.”
“The key to being a nation is that we have to invest in science, talent and innovation,” he said. “The UC system is the leader of the nation in terms of being a research university system. We need to work with the federal government to maintain the partnerships that domestic universities have built with the federal government. Without such investments, the US cannot be completed globally.”
Hu told The Times that universities “need to diversify funding sources: national support, federal funding for research, students, industry support, foundation support, all of which are important.”
He added that his priorities include “student success, social mobility, research and scholarships, increased access to local health care, and support communities in the Inland Empire region.”
Hu will lead one of UC’s most diverse and unique campuses. UC Riverside traces its origins to agricultural research on citrus fruits, but has grown into a multifaceted research university of insect research – plant and animal science, air pollution, and alternative fuels.
The Main Riverside Campus is 1,900 acres and the university has over 26,000 students and 4,700 faculty and staff. But it is often hidden by other UCSs, such as the more selective UCLA and UC Berkeley. Still, Riverside is consistently ranked on the list of public universities in the United States.
The campus, which attracts over 14,000 commuter students, was the top UC in accepting first-year students last year, transfer students, and was the first in the system to accept low-income individuals and first to attend college.
With its increasing size and popularity, UC Riverside also faces hurdles. As admissions, new programs added and new centres are being built, students are suing for the provision of thinned areas, including busy housing and dining areas, lack of parking and services for immigrant students. To address some of the shortage, the university is building $156 million educational facilities and hundreds of new apartments.
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