BASKIN ENGINEERING - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Senior Department Manager at the Baskin School of Engineering
As senior department manager at the Baskin School of Engineering, Aaron McPherson oversees all administration operations for the Applied Mathematics and Statistics Departments. He works closely with faculty to support curriculum development and recruitment efforts and leads the budget planning and academic policy implementation for both departments. His favorite thing about working at Baskin Engineering is the commitment and drive shown by the faculty, students, and staff.
Job Titles:
- Executive Advisor to the Dean
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- Adjunct Professor
- Associate
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- Dean
- Dean of the Baskin School of Engineering
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- Director of Undergraduate Advising
Andi Peeters joined the Baskin School of Engineering in January 2021 as Director of Undergraduate Advising. Before joining the Baskin Engineering advising team, Peeters was Dean of Student Affairs for almost four years at Menlo College. Although Peeters's role primarily involves leadership and administrative duties, she still gets the opportunity to work with students regularly, fulfilling her passion to help students reach their academic and professional goals.
Job Titles:
- Visiting Assistant Specialist / Department
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- Assistant Dean
- Chief of Staff
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- Research Associate / Department
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- Director of Department Operations
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- Facilities and Flow Cytometry Manager / Department
Sage Weil Presidential Chair for Open Source Software
Carlos Maltzahn, Adjunct Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, and Director of the Center for Research in Open Source Software (CROSS)
Job Titles:
- Kumar Malavalli Endowed Chair Professor / Department
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- Distinguished Professor / Department
Jack Baskin (1919-2020) was an active supporter of engineering and other programs at UC Santa Cruz over several decades, providing advice to faculty and campus leaders as well as generous financial support. His cornerstone gift helped launch UCSC's Baskin School of Engineering in 1997. Baskin and his family have also supported many other programs at UCSC, including the Elena Baskin Visual Arts Center, the Institute of Marine Sciences, arts programs, endowed chairs, and scholarships. The donations from Baskin and his foundation have amounted to more than $10 million dollars.
"Jack Baskin's impact at UC Santa Cruz can be seen across the campus, from engineering to the arts and humanities," said UCSC Chancellor Cynthia Larive. "His philanthropy has been strategic, multifaceted, and transformational to our campus, and his support included extensive contributions of his time and energy."
Baskin's involvement with UC Santa Cruz began in the 1970s, when founding chancellor Dean McHenry invited him to serve on the campus's physical planning committee. He was a trustee of the UCSC Foundation for over 30 years, including two years as chair.
"From the very early years of UC Santa Cruz, Jack Baskin campaigned for a strong engineering presence on campus," said Alexander Wolf, dean of the Baskin School of Engineering. "He wanted UCSC to be a leader in engineering, a vision that has been realized, in part through his generosity, with world-class research and education."
Baskin also gave generously to assist families, children, and senior citizens in the Santa Cruz region through the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, which he helped establish, and other organizations. Beneficiaries of his time and donations include Dominican Hospital, Cabrillo College, and Monterey Peninsula College. Baskin was named "Man of the Year" by the Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce in 1986. In 2008, he and his wife Peggy Downes Baskin established the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation to provide financial support for gender equality and increased access to education for marginalized communities in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
Born in upstate New York, Baskin was the first in his family to attend college. His parents, who spoke no English when they immigrated to the United States from Russia in 1908, insisted that he study engineering. Baskin studied mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado and earned a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from New York University in 1940. He was a pilot and served as an aeronautics instructor during World War II.
Baskin moved to Southern California in the late 1940s, where he worked as a general contractor and built a very successful development company. His company worked on commercial, industrial, and public construction projects throughout California. After moving to Palo Alto in 1967, he saw a need for quality affordable housing in the region. His company built the first low-income housing center in San Francisco and thousands of apartments for low-income families and the elderly in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas.
In 2006, Baskin was inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame in recognition of his role in establishing the Baskin School of Engineering. He received the inaugural Fiat Lux Award from UC Santa Cruz in 2005 in honor of his service to the campus. UC Santa Cruz celebrated Baskin's 100th birthday with an event at the engineering school on September 19, 2019 featuring family members, as well as faculty and alumni who spoke about Baskin's influence on their lives and careers.
Job Titles:
- Professor
- Undergraduate Director
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- CROSS Distinguished Fellow / Department
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- Associate Project Scientist
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- Assistant
- Department Manager
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- Engineering Writer and Media Relations Officer
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- Postdoctoral Researcher / Department
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- Research Development Specialist, Biomedical Sciences
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- Senior Director of Corporate Development, Baskin School of Engineering
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- Junior Specialist ( Step 2 )
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- Administrative Assistant, Deans Office
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- Postdoc Researcher / Department
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- Distinguished Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Distinguished Professor, Narinder Kapany Chair of Optoelectronics
- Sage Weil Presidential Chair for Open Source Software
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- Assistant Project Scientist / Department
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- Distinguished Professor Emeritus
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- Chairman in Engineering
- Engineering
- Jack Baskin Chair in Biomolecular Engineering
- Jack Baskin Chair in Computer Engineering
- Jack Baskin Professor of Computer Engineering Emeritus
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- Research Associate / Department
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- Associate Researcher / Department
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- Computational Media
- Narinder Singh Kapany Chair in Optoelectronics
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- Professor and Chair, Electical and Computer Engineering
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- Junior Specialist / Department
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- Assistant
- Research Scientist
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- Kumar Malavalli Endowed Chair Professor / Department
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- Interim Director of Academic Planning
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- Distinguished Professor, Computer Science and Engineering
- Distinguished Professor, Jack Baskin Chair in Computer Engineering
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- Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus
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- Postdoctoral Researcher / Department
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- Associate
- Research Scientist
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- Associate
- Research Scientist
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- Assistant Project Scientist / Department
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- Adjunct Professor
- Associate
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- Assistant
- Research Scientist
Job Titles:
- Kapany Professor Emeritus
- Narinder Singh Kapany Chair in Optoelectronics
Job Titles:
- Associate Specialist / Department
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- Graduate Director
- Professor
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- Assistant Professor, Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
- Jack Baskin Chair in Biomolecular Engineering
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- Associate Project Scientist / Department
Job Titles:
- Jack Baskin Professor of Computer Engineering Emeritus
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- Director of Laboratories & Facilities
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- Distinguished Professor Emeritus
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- Distinguished Research Professor and Distinguished Professor Emeritus
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- Associate Professor, Biomolecular Engineering
- Jack Baskin Chair in Computer Engineering
Job Titles:
- Staff Research Associate / Department
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- Assistant Project Scientist / Lab Manager / Department
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- Executive Assistant to the Dean of Engineering
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- Associate Teaching Professor
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- Distinguished Professor Emeritus
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- Director of Community Engagement
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- Director of Academic Personnel & Payroll
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- Project Scientist / Department
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- Director of Graduate Student Affairs
Zia Isola first came to UC Santa Cruz over 13 years ago. In addition to her primary role as Director of the Genomics Institute's Office of Diversity Programs, she is a winter quarter lecturer in the Biomolecular Engineering Department at the Baskin School of Engineering. As a first-generation student, Isola knows the power of mentorship and the importance of ensuring all students have equal access to academic and professional development opportunities.