Lawrence Pitts
The University of California Board of Regents on Feb. 5 confirmed UC President Mark G. Yudof’s appointment of UC Professor Emeritus Lawrence H. Pitts, MD, as interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs of the UC system.
Pitts fills the vacancy in the position resulting from the departure of Interim Provost Robert Grey. Pitts’ six-month interim appointment is effective on or about Feb. 10, 2009, and will continue until a permanent provost is hired and for a reasonable transition period thereafter or until Aug. 31, 2009, whichever occurs first.
“The University of California is a remarkable institution, and one that I care about deeply, and I am honored to serve UC in this capacity,” said Pitts.
Yudof made the interim appointment in accordance with UC policy and after consulting with all 10 campus chancellors and several UC Regents. A national search for a permanent provost, which Yudof hopes to successfully conclude by Sept. 1, 2009, is underway. Yudof is consulting with a working group on the selection of a permanent provost.
“Larry is an accomplished academic leader and he knows UC extremely well,” said Yudof. “I am very appreciative that he has agreed to lend his considerable talents to us during this transitional period.”
Pitts, 68, a longtime UC faculty member and past chair of the UC Academic Senate, has served on the UCSF faculty since 1975. At UCSF, he has been chief of neurosurgery at San Francisco General Hospital and at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion, and vice chair and acting chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery. He has also served on a variety of UC Academic Senate committees – including the Shared Governance Task Force, the Task Force on Healthcare and the drafting task force on UC’s Health Corporate Compliance Plan – at the divisional and systemwide levels.
Pitts received concurrent bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and industrial management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as a naval officer for two years before attending the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He did his neurosurgical training at UCSF.
As interim provost, Pitts will receive the following compensation and benefits: an annual salary of $350,000, which is the same salary as that of his predecessor; per policy, standard sick leave and vacation accrual; per policy, administrative funds for official entertainment and other purposes permitted by University policy; and per policy, eligibility for standard employee medical, dental and vision coverage.
As a reemployed UC retiree, Pitts will suspend his pension and retiree benefits, allowing him to return full time during this appointment as an active employee and making him eligible for regular employee health coverage and additional pension credits for his service, consistent with UC policy. The full-time appointment is an exception to policy, since it exceeds the normal appointment maximum of 43 percent time for reemployed retirees.
