Comments from campus leaders on George "Ron" Mangun's return as director of the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain.
“We very much appreciate Professor Mangun’s willingness to assume the leadership of our world-renowned Center for Mind and Brain, which he helped found and develop to its current reputation. Ron is a stellar cognitive neuroscientist, as well as an experienced university administrator. Under his leadership, we expect the Center for Mind and Brain to continue to excel as a critical contributor to our growing neuroscience research efforts at UC Davis.”
— Ralph Hexter, provost and executive vice chancellor
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“The Center for Mind and Brain has the good fortune to reappoint its founding director, Distinguished Professor Ron Mangun. Ron is a powerhouse faculty member and administrator at UC Davis with both a strong vision and an impressive track record in both research as well as administration. He clearly understands the important role the Center for Mind and Brain plays in leading research in human cognition and will ensure that the center continues to shine in the areas of research, training and outreach.”
— Prasant Mohapatra, vice chancellor for research
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"I am thrilled that Dr. Ron Mangun has returned to his role as director of the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain. His enthusiastic, community-building, and inspiring leadership will continue to strengthen this world-renown, interdisciplinary center for groundbreaking innovations in brain and mind sciences. What’s particularly exciting about the Center for Mind and Brain is the high-level mentorship and training it provides to hundreds of postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduates every year; developing scientists who will invent the next frontiers in research."
— Kristin H. Lagattuta, professor in the Department of Psychology and Center for Mind and Brain, and chair of the Davis Division of the Academic Senate
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“Ron is an outstanding, visionary cognitive scientist with a wealth of leadership experience. He invariably sees the big picture and broad scope of neuroscience at UC Davis and beyond. His return to directorship of the Center for Mind and Brain will be great for the center as well as the campus-wide neuroscience community.
— John H. Morrison, director the California National Primate Research Center
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"Neuroscience research is structured in a unique and powerful way at UC Davis through multiple centers and across many schools and departments. The Center for Mind and Brain plays a critical role in that strength in its focus on how brain function creates what we know as the mind. This is a distinct field from the fundamental research and biological focus on how the brain works at the Center for Neuroscience, and it is also distinct from the clinical research that is the focus of the MIND Institute [at UC Davis Health]. Each of our centers creates a culture and environment that uniquely supports and facilitates research within their specific fields, but also promotes interdisciplinary bridges between our faculty across centers, strengthening the research mission at UC Davis. Our neuroscience community — anchored by 150-plus research faculty across our Davis and Sacramento campuses — is one of the most impressive in the world. And our impact is amplified by our interdisciplinary collaborations that allow us to stay on the cutting edge and translate our discoveries into ways to improve lives more rapidly."
— Kimberley McAllister, professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior, and neurology, and director of the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience
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“Dr. Mangun is a visionary leader and his return to lead the CMB caps a career of personal academic accomplishment in the neuroscience of attention and service to the field. At UC Davis, and for a while at Duke [University], he has been uniquely effective in fostering interdisciplinary research that has broadened our understanding of how the human brain thinks and feels and acts. This work also lays an essential foundation for research into better understanding and treatment when things go awry in disorders of human cognition and emotion. We have everything to look forward to as Dr. Mangun builds on his own and Steve Luck's legacy and continues to grow one of the world’s premier centers for cognitive and affective neuroscience.”
— Cameron S. Carter, distinguished professor of psychiatry and psychology and director of the UC Davis Imaging Research Center, Behavioral Health Center for Excellence and the Early Psychosis Clinical and Research Programs
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“Dr. Mangun is a visionary leader, and an accomplished researcher and educator; I have enjoyed working with him for many years. As director, he brings to the Center for Mind and Brain a well respected national and international reputation, as well as innovative research on the cognitive neuroscience of attention. The UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain is an important part of the UC Davis research portfolio, a leader in human cognition research, and acts as a key hub for collaborative and interdisciplinary activities between the School of Medicine and other campus units.”
— Lars Berglund, former interim dean of the School of Medicine
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“It has been an honor and privilege to lead the CMB for the past decade. We have a spectacular group of faculty, students, research staff, and administrative staff, and working with this great group of scientists has been a joy. Over the past decade, I’ve watched with pride as our faculty have become internationally recognized leaders in the mind and brain sciences and our students have dispersed around the globe to become the next generation of leaders. On campus, the CMB has become a hub for the mind and brain sciences, bringing together faculty and students from every corner of the university to grapple with the difficult question of what gives humans the ability to think, feel, and act. Although the CMB was originally designed to focus on pure science, our research has evolved over the years to include practical applications, ranging from the effects of nutrition on cognitive development in infants to the diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss in elders. I’m delighted that Ron Mangun has agreed to serve as the next director. Ron is a brilliant leader and will work tirelessly to move the CMB to even greater heights.”
— Steven J. Luck, distinguished professor of psychology and 2009–19 director of the Center for Mind and Brain