Campus News
Baskin Engineering Dean Alexander Wolf to step down
Over the past decade, Dean Wolf spearheaded a major transformation of Baskin Engineering, strengthening the school’s academic foundation, expanding its research impact, elevating its international profile, and setting it on a course for even greater success in the years to come.
Dear Campus Community,
I am sharing the news that Baskin School of Engineering Dean Alexander L. Wolf has announced he will step down at the end of the academic year, concluding 10 years of leadership. Wolf, a computer scientist, will return to the UC Santa Cruz faculty.
Over the past decade, Dean Wolf spearheaded a major transformation of Baskin Engineering, strengthening the school’s academic foundation, expanding its research impact, elevating its international profile, and setting it on a course for even greater success in the years to come.
Since 2016, the school has increased grant funding by as much as 100 percent and philanthropic and corporate giving by more than 50 percent. The school now graduates 25 percent of undergraduate students, a 10 percent increase, and graduates 40 percent of graduate students, a 20 percent increase.
Dean Wolf reorganized the school’s departments to better align with the needs of a rapidly growing discipline and the continued transformation of the tech industry. Collaborating with faculty and university leadership, he expanded the school’s footprint into Silicon Valley by establishing an engineering hub with resident faculty, graduate students, and academic programs that partnered directly with some of the most important technology companies in the world. This strategic emphasis has deepened collaborations with industry partners and accelerated the translation of research into real-world impact—particularly in areas such as computer game design, natural-language processing, human-computer interaction, and artificial intelligence.
Fueling this transformation is Dean Wolf’s unwavering commitment to student access, success, and belonging and staff retention and support. He expanded programs like MESA and Girls in Engineering, established the Early Design Experience, Research Pathways, and Vertically Integrated Projects programs, and led the creation of the Slugworks creatorspace, used by students from across the campus. Dean Wolf also encouraged and supported staff professional development and created clear career pathways within the school.
Under his leadership, Baskin Engineering gained greater recognition in fields like genomics, AI, robotics, and sustainability, launching new research centers and interdisciplinary initiatives. Collaborations across campus advanced human-focused technology and climate research.
As his tenure concludes, Dean Wolf has positioned Baskin Engineering for the future through new academic programs, facilities planning, and global partnerships with leading universities.
Roberto Manduchi, Baskin Engineering’s associate dean for the graduate experience, will serve as interim dean, effective July 1. A professor of computer science and engineering, Manduchi joined UC Santa Cruz in 2001 after working at Apple and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The campus will launch a national recruitment for our next dean of the Baskin School of Engineering this summer, and we will share more details about that effort at a later date.
Please join me in thanking Dean Wolf for his important contributions in advancing the Baskin School of Engineering and expanding its positive impact on students, our state, and the world.
Sincerely,
Paul
Paul Koch
Interim Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor