Dr. Frederick A. Murphy, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, since 1991, will step down from that post Sept. 1, 1996. "I will have served as dean for five years," Murphy said. "It's time to turn the reins over to someone else, especially now that the state's budget crisis may be ending and another period of growth is about to start. This is the best vet school in the world with only one problem -- its aging facilities. I hope, as a faculty member, to continue to help the school remedy this pressing need." Murphy is internationally known for his work in virology and viral diseases, particularly rabies, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fevers, and is the author of more than 250 publications, including the book "Veterinary Virology." "I have accepted Dean Murphy's decision to resign with deep regret, although I am heartened that he plans to continue to serve the campus and the school as a full-time faculty member," said Chancellor Larry N. Vanderhoef. "His tenure as dean has been characterized by many achievements and great progress, the credit for which he is eager to share with all of his colleagues in the school." A search for Murphy's replacement will begin immediately, Vanderhoef said. Under Murphy's guidance, the school consolidated from 11 to six departments, streamlining administrative processes, increasing opportunities for faculty collaboration and saving $300,000 annually without any layoffs in staff. Murphy also helped secure several private gifts to the school, including $1.6 million from the Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust for a Center for Comparative Medicine facility scheduled to break ground in early 1996; the $650,000 John P. Hughes Chair in Equine Reproduction, the school's first endowed chair; and the $400,000 Koret Foundation endowment to initiate a faculty/student exchange program with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. Bequests to the school also jumped substantially, with more than $10 million currently pending, mostly for student scholarships. Before coming to UC Davis, Murphy served the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta as director of the Center for Infectious Diseases from 1987 to 1991, director of the Division of Viral Diseases from 1983 to 1987 and as chief of viral pathology from 1964 to 1978. From 1978 to 1983, he was associate dean and professor of microbiology at Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Murphy's international appointments include program chair of the Fifth International Congress for Virology; chair of the Virology Division of the International Union of Microbiological Societies; chair of the U.S./Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program Viral Diseases Panel; and president of the International Commission on Taxonomy of Viruses. Nationally, he has served as a member of the advisory panel of the Pew National Veterinary Education Program exploring the future of veterinary medicine; the blue ribbon panel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; the National Academy of Science's national committee on microbiology; the American Committee on Arthropod-Borne Viruses; and the Council of the American Society of Virology, an organization that he helped found. He is currently editor in chief of the journal Archives of Virology and co-editor of Advances in Virus Research, and he has been a member of several scientific journal editorial boards. Murphy received a Ph.D. in comparative pathology at UC Davis in 1964. He received a B.S. in bacteriology and a D.V.M. (doctor's degree in veterinary medicine) from Cornell University in 1957 and 1959, respectively.