UC Academic Senate welcomes celebrated scholars and leaders as new chair and vice chair
September 1, 2026 •
On Tuesday, Sept. 1, UC’s systemwide Academic Senate began the 2026–27 academic year with a new leadership team. Susannah L. Scott, Ph.D., is the new chair, joined by Amani M. Nuru-Jeter, Ph.D., as vice chair. Both bring years of experience in research, academic leadership and shared governance.
What does the Academic Senate do?
At UC, faculty have a formal role in university decision-making through the Academic Senate, which represents faculty across all 10 campuses. The Senate sets academic policy, approves courses and determines requirements for admission, certificates and degrees. It also advises UC leaders, including President Milliken, on budgets, faculty appointments and promotions, libraries and other matters that affect the academic environment.
Meet the new Academic Senate leaders
Academic Senate Chair Susannah L. Scott
Susanna L. Scott, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor of chemistry and chemical engineering at UC Santa Barbara, where she has been a faculty member since 2002. Her research looks for cleaner, more efficient ways to manufacture fuels and materials. That includes developing catalysts that reduce waste and energy use and finding ways to turn renewable and recycled materials into useful products.
Scott served as Academic Senate vice chair in 2025–26. She previously chaired UC Santa Barbara’s Divisional Senate from 2020 to 2024 and has served on the Academic Council and Academic Planning Council. She also co-chaired a workgroup on the future of doctoral education and helped develop UC Santa Barbara’s Clean Energy Master Plan.
Her campus leadership also includes service on UC Santa Barbara’s COVID-19 response teams and committees focused on budget strategy, childcare, campus design and decarbonization. Beyond UC, she is executive editor of the ACS Catalysis journal and serves on the Board of Reviewing Editors for Science magazine.
Academic Senate Vice Chair Amani M. Nuru-Jeter
Amani M. Nuru-Jeter, Ph.D., is a professor of community health sciences and epidemiology at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, where she has taught since 2005. Her research explores how social and structural factors, including racism, contribute to health inequities. She also directs Evidence for Action, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Nuru-Jeter chaired the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate in 2024–25 after serving as vice chair. Her systemwide Senate experience includes work on admissions, planning and budget, diversity and equity. She has emphasized collaborative leadership as UC addresses fiscal health, graduate education, research resilience and public trust in higher education.
She has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and secured more than $26 million in research funding. Her leadership roles at Berkeley have included faculty chair, executive associate dean and head graduate adviser in the School of Public Health. In 2022, she received the Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence and Equity.
Together, Scott and Nuru-Jeter will work with faculty and university leaders to bring faculty perspectives to key systemwide conversations and decisions. Visit the Academic Senate website to learn more about its work throughout the year.
Tags: Academic Senate, Amani M. Nuru-Jeter, Susanna L. Scott
