Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, vice provost for faculty relations and professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, has been tapped by Acting Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef to head a special committee studying the future of the College of Letters and Science and to serve as the college's dean during the 1994-95 academic year while a national search for retiring Dean Robert Crummey is conducted. Harvey Himelfarb, faculty assistant in the Office of the Provost, will temporarily take over for Tomlinson-Keasey July 1. "As vice provost for faculty relations, a position that requires the continual evaluation of faculty across the full breadth of the campus, Carol has had the unique experience of getting to know the College of Letters and Science unusually well in a relatively short period of time," said Vanderhoef in a memo to L&S faculty Wednesday. "Also very important to the tasks at hand, Carol has shown unusual abilities in bringing complex tasks to closure, talents essential to coming to conclusions that will serve the university well for the decades to come." Tomlinson-Keasey served as acting dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at UC Riverside and chair of its psychology department before coming to UC Davis in July 1992. "This is a very challenging assignment, given the budget realities, but it is one which I personally feel is extremely important," said Tomlinson-Keasey. "I hope the committee's deliberations and decisions can position the college for continued excellence and enhanced stature during the next decade." Vanderhoef also announced members of the L&S committee that will study "the full range of academic programs and program changes that will allow and encourage L&S to achieve high intellectual distinction across its disciplinary range as the next necessary step in the campuswide process of self-renewal in times of diminished resources." The committee will also consider the best organizational structure for the college. Committee members, chosen for their academic credibility and their wide range of disciplines, are: Fred Block, professor of sociology; JoAnne Cannon, professor of French and Italian and director of the Humanities Institute; James Griesemer, associate professor of philosophy; Kern Holoman, professor of music; Barry Klein, professor of physics; Art Krener, professor of math; Eldridge Moores, professor of geology; Ed Price, professor of animal science; Neil Schore, professor of chemistry; Ed Schroeder, professor of civil and environmental engineering; Tomlinson-Keasey, committee chair; Patricia Turner, associate professor of African-American and African Studies; and Carol Wall, L&S associate dean and anthropology senior lecturer. A lecturer and a student are yet to be named. Dean Crummey said he was "absolutely thrilled" at Tomlinson-Keasey's selection. "I first met her in her capacity as acting dean at Riverside. I was impressed with her then and am even more impressed with her now," Crummey said. "I'm also very pleased with the quality and stature of the faculty members who've agreed to serve on this committee. They're literally looking at the most important set of issues that faces any college of letters and science. I intend to work very closely with them under Carol's leadership and look forward to a very intense and creative process." Himelfarb, a professor of art since 1971, has served this past year as a faculty assistant in the provost's office. He chaired the art department from 1983 to 1988. "I'm honored to have the confidence of Vice Provost Tomlinson-Keasey and Acting Chancellor Vanderhoef and I'm pleased to have this opportunity to work on behalf of our campus," said Himelfarb. "I'm absolutely convinced that the quality of the campus's teaching and research programs is connected to the quality of the faculty and I look forward to helping recruit and retain first-class faculty for UC Davis."