University of California President Michael V. Drake, M.D., names new UC Riverside chancellor
University of California President Michael V. Drake, M.D., announced today (Wednesday, May 28) the selection of Dr. S. Jack Hu, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Georgia, as UC Riverside’s next chancellor. The UC Board of Regents approved the appointment during a special meeting held at the UC Student & Policy Center in Sacramento.
In Dr. Hu, UC Riverside welcomes a leader with nearly 40 years of experience in higher education. He joined the University of Georgia as provost in 2019, following an illustrious tenure at the University of Michigan, where he began his academic journey as a graduate student in 1985, ultimately rising to serve as the university’s vice president for research. Dr. Hu will begin serving as UC Riverside’s chancellor on July 15.
“Over his distinguished career at leading public research institutions, Dr. Hu has championed innovation and academic initiatives that have increased opportunities for students and faculty and have positively impacted their lives and the communities they serve,” said President Drake. “UC Riverside has established itself as a global leader in providing world-class scholarship. Dr. Hu has the academic acumen and collaborative mindset to move the campus forward with integrity and purpose.”
Dr. Hu has served as the University of Georgia’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost since July 2019. In this role, he leads the academic enterprise by overseeing instruction, research, public service and outreach, information technology, and the 19 schools and colleges at the university. Since Dr. Hu began serving as provost, the University of Georgia has invested in multiple rounds of interdisciplinary faculty hires and increased its research and development expenditures year-over-year, exceeding $620 million in 2024. This significant investment in research has helped the University of Georgia maintain its status as a top U.S. university for research-to-market products every year over the previous decade, ranking first in 2024. Dr. Hu also serves as a UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor at the College of Engineering.
“I am honored to join this outstanding University whose mission is to transform lives through discovery, dissemination and application of knowledge,” said Chancellor-designate Hu. “As a nationally recognized institution for academic excellence and social mobility and an engine for innovation and economic opportunity in the state, nation, and world, UC Riverside has immense potential ahead that I believe will put the campus at the forefront of shaping the future of higher education. Leading the campus into its next chapter of preeminence and realizing its ambitions is an exciting opportunity for which I am deeply grateful.”
As vice president for research at the University of Michigan, Dr. Hu oversaw a $1.5 billion research enterprise across the university’s campuses in Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint. In 2015, the university launched “MCity” as a public-private partnership to support innovation and testing of connected and automated vehicles. He also led the development of several international initiatives to support education and research. At the University of Georgia, Dr. Hu made strategic investments in electric mobility-related research projects a priority, working with several automobile companies with manufacturing facilities in the state and hosting regular summits that convened leaders of government, academia and industry. Faculty hiring initiatives in precision agriculture, Parkinson’s research, data science and artificial intelligence led to research centers and institutes in these areas to support and sustain interdisciplinary collaborations. In addition, Dr. Hu created the Humanities Council to support faculty research, scholarship and collaboration. The provost office also sponsors the annual Spotlight on the Arts festival in partnership with the UGA Arts Council as an annual celebration of the literary, visual and performing arts.
“On behalf of the UC Board of Regents, we are proud to welcome Dr. Hu as UC Riverside’s next chancellor,” said Janet Reilly, UC Board of Regents Chair and member of the search advisory committee. “Dr. Hu’s reputation as a results-oriented team player makes him the ideal partner to bolster UC Riverside’s impact on students and the region through robust research, economic development, and community engagement.”
Dr. Hu has dedicated his career to strengthening undergraduate and graduate education and promoting student success. While at the University of Georgia, he worked to expand experiential and engaged learning opportunities through research, internships and study abroad. Notably, his tenure concludes with the University of Georgia being one of only nine public universities in the U.S. with a six-year graduation rate of at least 90 percent. Graduate enrollment has also increased by more than 20 percent since 2019.
An area of focus for Dr. Hu has been increasing collaboration between the University of Georgia and rural communities in the state. Dr. Hu helped create the Rural Engagement Workshop for Academic Faculty as a means of expanding faculty understanding of rural needs to better develop research-focused partnerships. Since the program launched in 2021, workshop alumni have secured nearly $12.5 million in funding as a direct result of the projects they started in the program. The program also won the National Award of Excellence in the Innovation category from the University Economic Development Association.
“In Provost Hu we have found an energetic leader with an unwavering commitment to academic excellence, student achievement, and community engagement,” said Steven W. Cheung, M.D., chair of the Faculty Academic Senate. “His extensive experience supporting the interests of students and faculty for the betterment of universities and communities across the country gives me great confidence that he will advance UC Riverside to its next great chapter of impact and growth.”
Dr. Hu is renowned for his engineering research, with much of his work focused on the quality and productivity of manufacturing systems. As a researcher, he has secured $46 million in external funding from federal agencies and industry to support research conducted by students, faculty and staff in his laboratory. In 2011, he joined then-President Barack Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a national initiative by the president to unite industry, universities and the federal government to strengthen American manufacturing. Dr. Hu is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and an elected fellow of four professional societies. He is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the William T. Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award and the DeVor/Kapoor Manufacturing Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Gold Medal from Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and several best paper awards.
Dr. Hu will become UC Riverside’s 10th chancellor, following the retirement of Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox. Appointed in 2013, Chancellor Wilcox has overseen tremendous growth at UC Riverside. Under his leadership, the campus has added schools of medicine and public policy, increased overall enrollment by more than 25 percent, and raised the campus’s four-year graduation rate by 18 percent. In 2023, UC Riverside was invited to join the Association of American Universities (AAU), a 10-year goal of Chancellor Wilcox, establishing the school as one of America’s leading research universities. Chancellor Wilcox will remain in his role as chancellor through July 14 to ensure a smooth leadership transition.
“I’m overjoyed that the selection committee has chosen Dr. Hu, one of our nation’s foremost academic researchers and leaders, to take the helm at UC Riverside,” said Chancellor Wilcox. “Dr. Hu has proven himself to be a thoughtful and collaborative leader who cares deeply about the faculty and students he leads and the communities he serves. With decades of academic leadership, his ability to translate vision into action positions the University for a promising future.”
Born in Hunan Province, China, Dr. Hu earned his bachelor’s degree from Tianjin University. Following his undergraduate studies, he moved to Michigan, where he earned both master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering.
Off campus, Dr. Hu’s interests include Chinese literature and Chinese calligraphy, which he practiced regularly during winters in Ann Arbor. His wife, Jun Du, is a pianist with a degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
The UC Board of Regents approved Dr. Hu’s annual salary at $824,000. UC chancellors are among the lowest-paid university leaders when compared with their Association of American Universities (AAU) peers.