Dear Campus Community:
I am pleased to announce that Kairi Williams will be joining UC Berkeley as the new Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Administration and Compliance (RAC), effective February 1, 2021.
Kairi joins us from Drexel University, where he has served as Associate Vice Provost for Research Operations and Compliance in the Office of Research & Innovation. As AVP, Kairi held overall responsibility for research integrity and compliance at the University, overseeing a diverse portfolio of compliance functions, as well as finance and administration and shared services for the Office of Research & Innovation.
Kairi has worked collaboratively across Drexel on research issues including regulatory compliance, federal research policy, enhancing the research portfolio, as well as procedural and budgetary concerns. He brings special interest in collaborating with colleagues to identify opportunities to make research administration and research compliance processes more efficient yet less burdensome. Kairi also places emphasis and value on diversity and inclusion, serving as a member of Drexel’s Anti-Racism Task Force and helping to create environments where the values are discussed, practiced and upheld.
I am confident that Kairi’s experience in compliance, business strategy and internal audit, combined with his skills and commitment to engagement, inclusion and collaboration will be great assets as he assumes the leadership of our RAC functions, and will make him a great partner to our campus research enterprise.
I would like to express my thanks to the search committee, and particularly my deep appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Pamela Miller who has served the campus well as Interim AVC-RAC for the last six+ months following the retirement of Pat Schlesinger and to Noam Pines who served as the Interim Director of the Sponsored Projects Office during this time. Pam will resume her position as the Executive Director of the Sponsored Projects Office and Noam as Associate Director when Kairi joins the campus on February 1.
I hope you will join me in welcoming Kairi Williams to our campus next month.
Sincerely,
Randy Howard Katz
Vice Chancellor for Research
January 26, 2021
Vice Chancellor Research