Oscar Dubón is the Vice Chancellor for the Division of Equity and Inclusion at UC Berkeley. He was appointed by Chancellor Carol Christ in July 2017. In this role, he leads efforts to advance the university's commitment to uphold diversity, equity, and inclusion as central tenets to institutional excellence including academic scholarship, building community, and providing a campus environment that welcomes and supports all students, faculty, and staff.
Dubón also leads the campus-wide Diversity Initiative that will build on the 2009 UC Berkeley Strategic Plan for Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity to make scholarship and pedagogy more inclusive; expand the pathways and broaden access for all students, including traditionally underrepresented students, beyond merely compliance; and advance and sustain a healthy campus climate.
Dubón is a faculty member in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and a Faculty Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His dedication to engineering reaches beyond the professional realm. While research has always been his passion, people have always come first. As a graduate student, a professor in the College of Engineering, and an administrator at UC Berkeley, his commitment to access and inclusion for all members of the campus community has deepened over time and become an integral part of his work.
In his previous role of Associate Dean in the College of Engineering, Dubón led college-wide efforts to foster a more welcoming and diverse engineering community. He provided oversight of Engineering Student Services, which offers academic advising and leadership and professional development to more than 3,000 engineering undergraduates. He also established the Center for Access to Engineering Excellence that focuses on student engagement, academic excellence, and leadership development while cultivating diversity and inclusion in the college.
Dubón's research focuses on elucidating the relationship between defects and properties in materials and exploring ways to engineer the electrical, optical, and magnetic properties of new semiconductors that may be used in future electronics. He is the recipient of the 2000 Robert Lansing Hardy Award from the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, a 2004 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, and the 2004 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). He has co-authored more than 130 publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings and three book chapters.
The vice chancellor has a BS from UCLA (1989), and an MS (1992) and PhD (1996) from UC Berkeley. He held postdoctoral positions at Harvard University and Berkeley before joining the UC Berkeley faculty in 2000.