Doing Work That Matters

It’s good to be smart. But focus, motivation, passion are what make the difference between being successful with a lower-case “s” and doing something important.

I first met Carol Padden in the late 1970s. She was a graduate student and I was a brand new assistant professor (sneaking back to the lab at night, after putting my daughter to bed, to read the instruction manuals on the equipment I was supposed to run). I think Carol had more poise and aplomb then than I did! But what really stood out to me about her was her intensity – a seriousness of purpose that made it clear she would go far.

And she has gone far, though she hasn’t, to our great delight, left the campus. After completing her Ph.D. in Linguistics, she stayed on as one of our first professors of Communication. Fast forward some 30 years and she is a MacArthur “Genius” Award winner. But even without that honor, it is obvious that she has been doing important work: not only making discoveries about language but also making a difference in student and faculty careers, as well as the lives of deaf people throughout the world. I couldn’t be more pleased that she will be the next dean of the Division of Social Sciences.

Carol has been a vital part of UC San Diego for 36 years. I’ve been here 37. And though it looks like a different place than when we started, much of the essential character of the university has stayed the same.

At the recent international conference on gesture studies held on campus, I was struck by the numbers of returning alumni who said they were shaped by this university. These are accomplished professionals, with deep loyalties and years-long ties to other institutions now, but they still say they owe a debt to UC San Diego – for their ambition, excitement, curiosity and intellectual openness.

That strong sense of adventure, present at UC San Diego from its earliest days, hasn’t left. I can honestly say that the last couple of years have been among my most exciting. As we articulated the strategic plan, we have recommitted to our roots. Paradoxical as it sounds, there is a tradition of newness here and an orientation to the future that we want to preserve. We are very unusual, and possibly unique, not so much in our goal to continue being a great public research university – others aim to do that, too – but in being willing to redefine what that means, with a focus on serving society and doing work that matters.

It has been a privilege and an enormous pleasure serving as dean for the past eight years. As I return to the classroom and lab, I look forward with excitement to seeing where we will be in the coming years.