Senate Source

June 2009

Dan SimmonsUCD’s Simmons Elected 2009-10 Senate Vice Chair

UC Davis Professor of Law Daniel L. Simmons has been elected 2009-10 Academic Senate vice chair. Professor Simmons, a noted expert on tax law, has an extensive history of Senate service. He served once before as systemwide Senate chair in 1994-1995, has twice served as Davis divisional chair, and chaired the committee that authored a widely referenced report on shared governance known as “Mending the Wall.” Professor Simmons also served for many years on the President’s Council on the National Laboratories and its National Security Panel and Environmental Safety and Health Panel. Recently, he was a member of Academic Council’s Special Committee on Laboratory Issues and the UCFW Task Force on Investment and Retirement.

“The principal issue facing the Senate is nothing less than the future of the University of California,” he said. “In this period of global financial turmoil, the choices that we make over the near term, particularly with respect to the funding model for UC, will influence the direction of the University for the next several decades.” Professor Simmons’ term begins September 1.