Ralph Hexter, a former professor of classics and comparative literature at UC Berkeley, has been appointed as the interim provost for the University of California starting this fall.
Hexter — who was also a former provost and executive vice chancellor at UC Davis — was selected by President James Milliken and approved by UC Regents. Hexter’s interim position spans across the UC system and its undergraduate admissions student support programs.
This decision follows the resignation of Katherine Newman, who had served as provost since 2023. UC spokespeople said in an email that Newman chose to step down from her role in order to resume her research as the Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of sociology and public policy at UC Berkeley.
“It’s a big job,” Hexter said in an email. “One can see it largely as a role that oversees, coordinates, and supports the academic functions of teaching and research across the ten-campus University of California system.”
Hexter will also help manage the UC Libraries, the UC Press, the UC Education Abroad Program and the UC Washington Center.
Hexter hopes to address any pending business from Newman’s term, improve operations and work more closely with the Academic Senate.
“I know well that the first duty of an interim is to see that the ongoing operations of supporting our students, faculty, and staff both in Academic Affairs at the Office of the President and, at a remove, across the entire ten-campus university, run smoothly,” Hexter said in the email.
Hexter also noted his wish to improve Academic Affairs before handing his position off to his successor.
Hexter said above all, he plans to support the president as well as the regents in their oversight of the university and its campuses.
Reflecting on his time as a professor at UC Berkeley, Hexter described being “energized and inspired” by his students and colleagues.
Hexter also noted his appreciation for the UC system as an inclusive public institution that uplift first-generation and low-income students.
“I realized that the UC offers California and the world not one but ten campuses that are home to such passion for academic excellence, such intellectual brilliance, and so many life-changing opportunities,” Hexter said in an email.
Hexter is also a founding member of LGBTQ Leaders in Higher Education. He said he was motivated to start the organization after noticing LGBTQ+ underrepresentation in higher education executive positions.
“I know that being honest and open, and bringing one’s whole self to whatever job one has, is a good thing and makes one a better colleague and leader,” Hexter said in the email. “In sum, that’s what I think my experience in this space will bring to my new role in the UC.”