Nicholas B. Dirks

Nicholas B. Dirks

Dirks is Berkeley’s 10th chancellor. An internationally renowned historian and anthropologist, he is well known for his commitment to and advocacy for accessible, high-quality undergraduate education in the liberal arts and sciences. Before coming to Berkeley, he was the executive vice president for the arts and sciences and dean of the faculty at Columbia University, where, in addition to his work on undergraduate programs, he improved and diversified the faculty, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary and international initiatives. The Franz Boas Professor of Anthropology and History, Dirks joined Columbia in 1997 as chair of the anthropology department. Prior to Columbia, he was a professor of history and anthropology at the University of Michigan for 10 years and taught Asian history and civilization at the California Institute of Technology.