Dean Mangun reflects on Social Sciences at UC Davis

Dean George R. Mangun

Welcome to the Division of Social Sciences in the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis. Our division is home to ten departments, three research centers or institutes, and eight interdisciplinary programs that educate thousands of undergraduates, hundreds of graduate students, and numerous postdoctoral fellows each year. The division includes more than 220 faculty members engaged in studies ranging from the philosophical foundations of scientific inquiry to how our history and political, economic and social institutions shape our multicultural society. Division researchers also seek to understand how evolution led to modern humans with diverse cultures and ideologies, and how the modern brain enables human experience, behavior and communication.

The Division of Social Sciences is home to winners of the Guggenheim Fellowship, the MacArthur Prize, the National Academy Troland Award, the Sloan Fellowship, the Fulbright Fellowship, and the Pulitzer Prize. Our faculty members are leaders in their respective fields, serving locally, nationally and internationally as advisors to public and private institutions, and heading respected scholarly journals and societies. They regularly receive commendations as distinguished scholars and elected fellows of international societies in recognition of their career contributions, and they have earned major UC Davis teaching awards for their excellent performance in the classroom. Division faculty members extend their influence throughout the campus by actively participating in many interdisciplinary undergraduate degree programs, as well as the graduate groups that distinguish UC Davis graduate education. Scholars in the division also have significant international impact by addressing challenging global issues. Our students benefit from and contribute to these accomplishments in the classroom, laboratory and in the field at sites around the world where research is conducted. Many of our students are award-winning fellows of the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and prestigious private foundations

UC Davis is located just fifteen miles from the California State Capital, Sacramento, and therefore is uniquely positioned both to study the operation of the state government and to help to shape its directions. The faculty members in the Division of Social Sciences have significant impact on public policies, including those on taxation, education, and behavioral and health science, to name but a few. Social scientists inform the public about the historical and the intellectual foundations of our society, and help to develop new concepts of organization, communication and decision making that support California and the United States in maintaining a competitive advantage in our rapidly changing global community. Social scientists also investigate the complex process of globalization, including how it affects population flow, economic circumstances and social networks.

With pride, I invite you to learn more about the Division of Social Sciences in these web pages and those of our several academic and research units. You will find a rich community of scholars with exceptional records of accomplishment and deep commitments to creating a better world for us all.

Sincerely,

George R. Mangun
George R. Mangun
Dean
Division of Social Sciences