Robert C. Dynes

Robert C. Dynes, a physicist and an expert on semiconductors and superconductors, is the 18th president of the University of California, assuming those responsibilities on Oct. 2, 2003. Since 1996, he had served as chancellor of UC’s San Diego campus. Dynes came to UC San Diego in 1991 after a 22-year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where he served as department head of semiconductor and material physics research and director of chemical physics research. His numerous scientific honors include the 1990 Fritz London Award in Low Temperature Physics and his 2001 election to the Council of the National Academy of Sciences, a society to which he was elected in 1989.

Joining UC San Diego as professor of physics, Dynes founded an interdisciplinary laboratory where chemists, electrical engineers, and private industry researchers investigate the properties of metals, semiconductors, and superconductors. He subsequently became chairman of the physics department and then senior vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Along with his duties as Chancellor and his ongoing physics research, Robert Dynes was active in the national scientific arena and in San Diego civic organizations. He was vice-chair of the University of California President's Council on the National Laboratories, a member of the National Security Panel, and Councilor of the National Academy of Sciences. His San Diego community affiliations included membership on the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation Board, the San Diego Science Alliance Board, the San Diego Performing Arts League Advisory Council, and the Children's Hospital and Health Center Board.

A native of London, Ontario, Canada, and a naturalized United States citizen, Dynes holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from the University of Western Ontario as well as master's and doctorate degrees in physics and an honorary doctor of science degree from McMaster University. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

President Dynes is married to Frances Dynes Hellman, a professor of physics at UC San Diego.