In a note to the campus community, Michael Witherell, the UCSB Vice Chancellor for Research, made the following announcement:
“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Stuart Sweeney, Associate Professor of Geography, as Director of the Institute for Social, Behavioral & Economic Research, effective July 1, 2012.
Dr. Sweeney, who received his Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been a member of the UCSB faculty since 2005. He is a leading researcher in the areas of urban and regional modeling and planning, human migration, local economic development/policy, and spatial point process models of economic activity. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the UC Pacific Rim Research Program, and the Southern California Association of Governments. We are fortunate that a scholar of his distinction has agreed to take on this very important role.
Since its founding, the Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research (ISBER) has served as the central institute for sponsored research in the social sciences and related disciplines at UCSB. ISBER’s original charge was to ‘serve as a major resource for basic research in the social sciences,’ encouraging ‘faculty participation in interdisciplinary research.’ ISBER performs a critical function at UCSB, providing outstanding service in research development and administration to an extremely wide range of clients. ISBER is unique in serving such a broad range of research fields, with research collaborations extending across the campus.
Dean Melvin Oliver and I would like to thank the members of the Search Committee for their outstanding service in carrying out this search. The members of the committee were Pei-Te Lin(Chair), Gerardo Aldana, Kelly Bedard, Barbara Harthorn, John Mohr, and John Yun. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sarah Fenstermaker, Professor of Sociology, for her excellent work as Director of the Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research over the last six years.”
