Katherine Yelick, a campus electrical engineering computer sciences professor and associate dean in the Division of Computing, Data Science and Society, or CDSS, was named the next vice chancellor for research Thursday.

Yelick’s term begins Jan. 1, 2022, when she will replace the current vice chancellor for research, Randy Katz, a campus professor of computer science, according to a Berkeley News article. Katz said as vice chancellor of research, Yelick will be overseeing the campus’s one billion dollar research budget.

“Kathy Yelick will be a wonderful steward of the campus research enterprise. She comes with the experience of the campus, having been here for thirty years on the faculty, ” Katz said in an email. “She also understands and appreciates the broad connections of this field into all parts of the campus research endeavor, from the sciences and engineering, to the social sciences, and to the arts and humanities.”

Yelick is a Robert S. Pepper distinguished professor who joined the campus faculty in 1991 and has been at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for more than a decade, where she has served as a senior faculty scientist. She also serves as the associate dean of the division of CDSS alongside Jennifer Chayes, the associate provost.

Yelick said she and Chayes have established research initiatives and a new structure at the CDSS.

“Kathy was instrumental in the development of CDSS, particularly in helping strengthen relationships across campus,” Chayes said in an email. “(She) is one of the most talented leaders I have ever worked with — she listens, sees the big picture, and co-creates and implements phenomenal solutions. I cannot imagine a better vice chancellor for research.”

In her capacity as vice chancellor of research, Yelick hopes to build connections between researchers in different fields. She added that she hopes to further develop research spaces on campus including at Moffett Field.

Yelick added that her other goals include streamlining research processes and providing equitable access to research support.

“I think Berkeley is such a unique institution both because of its size and because of its excellence across disciplines,” Yelick said. “I want to bring people across campus together to work on the worldwide problems ahead of us.”