We wish to congratulate Dean Yi Li, College of Science and Mathematics, who has recently accepted the position of Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at California State University Northridge. Dr. Li will start at CSUN on July 20, 2015. Please click on the link to read their announcement (http://csunshinetoday.csun.edu/csun-leaders/csun-names-li-new-provost/).
Since coming to Wright State in 2011, Yi Li has been a staunch advocate for diversity and faculty mentoring. He was the force behind the creation of a College of Science and Mathematics Faculty Mentoring Policy first implemented for junior faculty in 2013, and now serving as a model for other units at the department and college level. He recently implemented a grant review process for faculty, which provides funds for expert peer reviewers to read faculty grants and provide feedback prior to submission to external agencies. He strengthened the college research profile by instituting a “research cluster” hiring plan in which multiple departments launched simultaneous searches in areas of strength, including cell signaling, education research, and most recently, global change. In addition, he worked with the Mathematics & Statistics and Physics departments to establish a new Ph.D. program, Interdisciplinary Applied Science and Mathematics, which was approved at the state level this past spring, and will be admitting its first class in Fall 2015. He has been a strong supporter for student success and education excellence, as exemplified by the institution of 2 new teaching awards, generous cost sharing of teaching innovation grants, collaboration with Latino Affairs to provide a “Math Boot Camp” for middle school students in Dayton, and the opening of STEM City, a residential living-learning community. It has been an exciting time in the college during his tenure. He will be greatly missed, but his legacy of inclusion, collaboration, mentoring and excellence will continue to inspire us long after he is gone.
