Barbara O. Schneeman, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis, announced today that she will resign from that post effective June 30, 1999, when a new administrative structure, yet to be developed, will be put into place. Schneeman, a professor of nutrition, has been a member of the UC Davis faculty since 1976. She was appointed dean in July 1993 following the sudden death of then-dean John Kinsella. She assumed leadership of the college during one of the campus's most trying periods, as budgetary constraints of the early 1990s were causing campuswide downsizing and early retirements. As dean she guided the college through major changes designed to increase efficiency and enable the college to better respond to societal needs and student interests. In recent years Schneeman has directed the faculty renewal process as the college began to recover from the lean financial years and fill voids left by early-retirement programs. She also provided leadership for strategic planning in the UC Division of Agricultural and Natural Resources and, especially, in building strong external relations for the college. A major focus for Schneeman during the past two years has been the California Food and Fiber Futures, a Kellogg Foundation-supported program aimed at building partnerships between various segments of higher education in California. The program is intended to coalesce a vision for how higher education can meet California's current and future needs. "During the past five years, Dean Schneeman has worked tirelessly on behalf of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, arguably the most complex of our schools and colleges," said Chancellor Larry N. Vanderhoef. "Provost Grey and I are deeply appreciative of her efforts and many accomplishments. We are fortunate that she will continue to lead the college during the coming year as the college undertakes a critical planning effort aimed at positioning it to best meet the challenges of the 21st century. Both the provost and I appreciate her commitment to that academic and strategic planning process and strongly support her efforts to plan for the college's future and its relationship to other academic programs on campus." During winter quarter, Schneeman proposed to the college's executive committee and department chairs a revision of the administrative organization of the dean's office. As a result, a task force -- appointed to examine issues related to the proposed reorganization -- recently returned with a report recommending that an interim administrative structure for the dean's office be adopted for July 1998 to June 1999. The task force further recommended that the college begin a major academic and strategic planning process. "In accepting the task force report, I have agreed to serve as dean during the interim period and am committed to the integrity of the planning process," said Schneeman. She added that she chose to step down from the dean's position so that she could effectively lead the planning effort without having a vested administrative interest in the outcome. "During the past five years, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has developed in new and exciting ways, and the planning effort we are beginning is an outcome of the evolution," Schneeman said. Prior to being appointed dean, Schneeman served as chair of the UC Davis Department of Nutrition from 1988-1993 and was associate dean of resident instruction and student affairs in the college from 1985-88. As a nutritionist, she is an authority on the role of the gastrointestinal tract in nutrition, on changes in nutrient quality during food processing and on dietary guidelines. She has a particular research interest in the nutritional significance of dietary fiber. She has been active at the national level in developing nutrition policy, serving repeatedly on the advisory committee that drafts revised national dietary guidelines for the U.S. departments of Agriculture, and Health and Human Services. For the past two years, Schneeman has served as an appointed member of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture and of the USDA public advisory board. In 1997 she received the Commissioner's Special Citation and the Harvey W. Wiley Medal from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in recognition of her contributions toward the advancement of scientific research. Schneeman received her bachelor's degree in food science and technology from UC Davis in 1970 and her doctoral degree in nutrition from UC Berkeley in 1974. A national search to identify her successor will be undertaken during 1998-99.