Patricia O'Brien, an award-winning historian and accomplished administrator, has been named Executive Dean of the UCLA College -- the largest academic unit in the University of California (UC) system.

The appointment was announced today by Chancellor Albert Carnesale and is effective July 1, 2004, pending approval by the UC Board of Regents.

O'Brien assumes leadership of the UCLA College from Judi Smith, the acting executive dean since July 1, 2003. Smith, who agreed to serve a one-year term during the search for the permanent executive dean, will resume her role as the College's dean of Honors and Undergraduate Programs, and the university's vice provost for undergraduate education.

"Pat O'Brien is a respected scholar, dedicated teacher, and skilled administrator," Carnesale said. "Her performance in high-level academic and administrative posts in the UC system demonstrates that she is extremely well-qualified to lead the UCLA College into the future. She brings a superb mix of talent and experience to this post. My colleagues and I look forward to working with her to maintain and enhance the College's academic excellence and to pursue innovative approaches to undergraduate education, research, and service."

O'Brien is an expert on modern French history and in nineteenth and twentieth century social and cultural history. She has held fellowships from the National Endowment of the Humanities and the National Humanities Center as well as a Regent's Faculty Fellowship from the University of California. She has twice held the prestigious post of directeur d'eudes at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France.

Before serving in her current post as Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at UC Riverside, O'Brien was the director of the UC Humanities Research Institute (HRI) at UC Irvine.

"I am delighted by the opportunity to serve at UCLA, one of the world's great institutions of public higher education, and by the prospect of helping to determine the future of the UCLA College," O'Brien said. "The College is one of the premier academic units in the country. Working to maintain quality, innovation, and strategic leadership in the face of daunting fiscal challenges will require all the best that the faculty, students, and staff at the College have to offer. I look forward to being a catalyst for excellence."

As Dean at UC Riverside, O'Brien oversees twenty departments and over a dozen collaborative programs. In her previous role as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research at UC Irvine, O'Brien managed the creation, organization, and review of the campus' scientific research centers. She also served as Acting Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Dean at Irvine, with a broad array of responsibilities including graduate admissions, research policy oversight, compliance (human and animal subjects and conflict of interest issues), contract and grant oversight, integrity in research, and a multi-million dollar annual budget.

O'Brien earned her masters and doctorate degrees in history at Columbia University. She is the author or co-author of five books including Societies and Cultures in World History, and is currently completing her sixth book, The Political Culture of the French State in the Nineteenth Century. She has written dozens of articles in her field and her professional review affiliations include the Fulbright Program National Screening Committee for France and Belgium, the National Science Foundation, and the Chateaubriand Fellowship Committee. O'Brien is the recipient of several awards and grants for the Humanities Research Institute including a Getty Senior Research Grant, a Koret Foundation Grant and a Ford Foundation "Crossing Borders" Grant.

The UCLA College includes six divisions =- humanities, physical sciences, social sciences, life sciences, honors and undergraduate programs, and the UCLA International Institute. The College encompasses 34 departments, 40 specialized programs, and 130 undergraduate majors and undergraduate degrees that span research and training in the liberal arts and sciences. Twenty-seven of the College's academic departments are ranked among the top 20 nationally in their fields.