UC Davis Biological Sciences: Spring/Summer 2001
By Kathleen Holder
A new research building, renovated laboratories, a 50-foot steel-and-glass DNA sculpture, centers for structural biology, genetics and development, and genomics, and a future instructional building are among the physical landmarks of Mark McNamee's eight years as dean of the Division of Biological Sciences.
But administrators, faculty members and staff employees say that McNamee-who is starting a new career venture as provost at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University-left his mark at UC Davis as much through the people he hired, his strategic approach to resource planning, and his "big picture" view of life sciences.
McNamee served as a unifying force on a campus in which close to half the faculty are involved in life-sciences programs as diverse as agriculture, human and animal medicine, anthropology and biomedical engineering, his colleagues say.
As chair of the campus Administrative Coordinating Council for Biological Sciences, he was lead dean in the creation of the multidisciplinary UC Davis Genome Center, the partnership with premier mouse-breeder The Jackson Laboratory and other campuswide initiatives. He was also a principal architect behind the success of the UC Davis Biotechnology Program and a UC-wide Life Sciences Informatics Program headquartered on the Davis campus, according to Martina Newell-McGloughlin, who directs both programs.
"He has clearly demonstrated that by working together, the outcome can be far greater than the sum of the parts," said Mike Dahmus, chair of the Section of Molecular and Cellular Biology. "The development of the Genome Center is perhaps the best example. Mark has a broad view of biological sciences and the interpersonal skills to bring together the right group of people to make something happen."
Michael Turelli, chair of the Section of Evolution and Ecology, agreed: "Under him, the Division of Biological Sciences became the central structure organizing the growth of modern biology on campus."
McNamee played a central role in shaping the Division of Biological Sciences. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he chaired the faculty committee that garnered overwhelming support from colleagues for reorganizing six biology programs from two colleges under one administrative roof.
The division had been created in 1970 to coordinate instruction in those biology programs-bacteriology, botany, zoology, animal physiology, biochemistry and biophysics, and genetics. In 1993, the campus reorganized those programs into five academic sections that reflected modern themes in fast-changing fields of biology-evolution and ecology; microbiology; molecular and cellular biology; neurobiology, physiology and behavior; and plant biology. The division, under then-Dean Robert Grey, gained direct oversight of those sections, their faculty, resources and curriculums, although the College of Letters and Science and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences continued to issue biology undergraduate degrees.
After Grey left to become provost and executive vice chancellor, McNamee was named interim dean in May 1993 and dean two years later. The timing was tough, with a deep recession causing state funding cuts and early faculty retirements.
McNamee would lead the division through recession-era budget cuts to a new era of rebuilding and growth.
"Mark's contributions to the division are numerous," said Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "From a mile high, though, one is especially notable. Mark stepped into a division that had been recently newly formed … and 'grew it' to the strong unit it is today in just a few short years. All of the individual accomplishments one might mention are really all parts of this grander accomplishment.
"Mark was the ultimate team player in the administration as well, always able to be simultaneously parochial on behalf of the division, and watchful and caring about the well-being of the total university. I am quite certain that he will always have a soft spot in his heart for UC Davis."
More than a quarter of the division's 113 faculty members were hired during McNamee's tenure as dean. Extramural funding more than doubled in that same period.
McNamee also oversaw construction of a new research building, the Life Sciences Addition, which was completed in late 1996; ongoing remodeling of Briggs Hall next door; and planning for the Sciences Laboratory Building, which will be the state's most advanced science teaching facility when it opens in 2004.
An academic plan completed in mid-1999 set the goal of making the division one of the nation's best fundamental biology programs by 2005. The academic plan is titled "Opportunities for Distinction."
The Opportunities for Distinction name is shared with a $9.5 million campaign launched this past academic year to raise money for endowed faculty chairs, graduate-student fellowships, and new space for the Botanical Conservatory, UC Davis Herbarium, the UC Davis Biotechnology Program, and Undergraduate Educational Outreach and Enrichment Programs.
"What distinguishes Mark as dean is his eternal willingness to tackle any problem, regardless of its difficulty and regardless of perceptions about chances of success," said Dave Shelby, who served as assistant dean under McNamee before becoming chief operating officer for the UC Davis Division of Information and Educational Technology last year.
"He was able to approach virtually anything without letting his own ego take center stage. As a result he was able to forge relationships and develop collaborations that would elude most other leaders. He brought to the job an incredible intellect, a strong sense of direction, and a willingness to let others take the credit for anything that might happen. In these ways, he was the quintessential 'campus citizen.' "
A number of other colleagues and former employees said McNamee displays a remarkable memory for details, yet never lost sight of the bigger picture and always maintained a compassion for people.
"Mark is a rare person who has this combination of a sense of doing what's right and, at the same time, this drive for excellence," said Leo Chalupa, chair of the Section of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior who came to UC Davis in 1975, the same year McNamee joined the faculty here. Chalupa will serve as interim dean until dean-designate Phyllis Wise arrives in January from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.
Newell-McGloughlin, director of the UC Davis Biotechnology Program and the UC Life Sciences Informatics Program, said she would miss McNamee's "knowledge, expertise and wisdom."
"You could talk to him about any project and he'll have innovative ideas on just about every issue," said Associate Dean Tom Rost. "Mark is one of the most solid and analytical thinkers I have ever worked with."
Rost said he would always remember seeing McNamee with his pants rolled up, gumboots on, and a squeegee in hand, mopping up a sewage backup that flooded the ground floor of the Life Sciences Addition a year ago. Rost said that illustrated McNamee's typical approach-"not all that concerned about appearances but getting things done even if he has to do some of the dirty work himself."
Space posed an ever-pressing challenge for the division, and continues to do so. But former assistant dean Shelby said McNamee developed rational approaches to space allocation as well as budgets and faculty teaching loads. "He led the division in what must be one of the most aggressive faculty recruitment campaigns in history, well ahead of the growth curve we're now seeing for the general campus," Shelby said. "He took a number of risks with this approach, but I think the quality of CBS recruits speaks for itself."
Doug Nelson, chair of the Section of Microbiology, said McNamee took the painful steps needed in order to carve out space for new programs and lay the groundwork for future growth.
"Mark realized that the only way that CBS was going to be able to make the case for new space was to use our existing space very efficiently," Nelson said.
Microbiology faculty members, for instance, will begin moving this summer from Hutchison Hall into remodeled but smaller labs in Briggs Hall. The Briggs Hall renovations will create space for the Section of Microbiology to add about three more faculty members, he said. The remodeling also will provide a place for the new Center for Genetics and Development, which will hire five to 10 new faculty members over the next five years.
McNamee announced a year ago his plans to step down as dean. He left at the end of June after 26 years of service to UC Davis. An expert on the structure and function of biological membranes, he came to Davis in 1975 as an assistant professor of biochemistry. He was made professor in 1985, and five years later became chair of what was then the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics (now the Section of Molecular and Cellular Biology).
McNamee said he was excited about new opportunities in taking on the No. 2 administrative position at Virginia Tech, a top-level research university with about 25,000 students. "It's a wonderful place," McNamee said. "The hardest part will be leaving here."
During job interviews across the country in recent months, McNamee said he was pleased to hear that UC Davis and its biological sciences were widely respected. "In all of my travels, I have been pleased to see how highly regarded our programs in biological sciences have become. Many well-known universities aspire to accomplish what we have already achieved," he said.
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