Jessie Ann Owens, dean of the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Davis, announced that she is stepping down on June 30, 2014, at the end of her eighth year of service as dean. She is the longest-serving dean in the nearly 20-year history of the division, which is part of the College of Letters and Science. A musicologist and professor of music, she will join the faculty following a year of research leave.

Her tenure as dean is marked by many successes, of which the foremost is the recruitment of a diverse and talented cohort of faculty. Approximately 30 percent of the current faculty have been hired since Owens arrived, 40 percent of them from underrepresented groups and nearly 60 percent women. Particularly noteworthy initiatives included hires in design, English, music, Native American studies, religious studies and the University Writing Program. The success of the faculty is evident in the large numbers of prestigious national fellowships including the Guggenheim and the American Council of Learned Societies.