Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George W. Breslauer announced today that Paul Wright has agreed to serve as Director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), for an initial five-year term commencing January 1, 2009.

The text of his announcement is as follows:

Dear colleagues,

Chancellor Birgeneau, Interim Vice Chancellor Robert Price and I are delighted to announce that, following a national search, Professor Paul Wright has agreed to serve as Director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), for an initial five-year term commencing January 1, 2009.

Paul, who holds the A. Martin Berlin Chair in Mechanical Engineering, also serves as co-director of the Berkeley Manufacturing Institute (BMI) and co-director of the Berkeley Wireless Research Center (BWRC). From 1995 to 2005 he served as co-chair of the Management of Technology Program (a joint program with the Haas School of Business), and also served several years as Associate Dean of the College of Engineering.

Paul's efforts have been critical to maintaining the momentum of CITRIS since assuming responsibility for the unit on an interim basis one-and-a-half years ago. We are confident that the Center will continue to thrive under his leadership and look forward to working with him to fulfill the CITRIS mission.

Please join me in congratulating Paul on his appointment and thanking him for being willing to serve.

Sincerely,

George W. Breslauer
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost