Dean of Professional and Continuing Education

May 7, 2024

TO:   Campus Community

FR:    David Marshall
         Executive Vice Chancellor

RE:   Dean of Professional and Continuing Education

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Denis Couturier as Dean of Professional and Continuing Education (formerly Extension), effective June 17, 2024. Denis Couturier has served in administrative positions with UCLA Extension for nine years, most recently as Director of International Corporate and Custom Programs. He previously served as Assistant Dean of Student Life and Student Services at Old Montreal College in Montreal, Canada, and prior to that he held other higher education positions in Canada. At UCLA, Denis developed programs, curricula, and international partnerships for Extension, working closely with schools, departments, faculty, and instructors. He also received UCLA Extension’s first federal grant to develop a Behavioral Health Support Specialist Program, and worked with the UCLA Anderson School of Management to develop curricula to support academic success among underrepresented students.

I am grateful to Associate Dean Sheetal Gavankar for her service as Acting Dean of Professional and Continuing Education since Bob York stepped down and began a well-deserved sabbatical. I also thank our advisory search committee, chaired by former Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts John Majewski and former Director of Summer Sessions Leesa Beck. The membership of the committee is listed below.

Please join me in welcoming Denis Couturier to UC Santa Barbara.

Search Advisory Committee

Leesa Beck, Summer Sessions Director, Co-Chair
John Majewski, Professor, History, Co-Chair
Yanoula Athanassakis, Director, Academic Planning and Policy, Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor
Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement, Professor, Sociology
Clifford Johnson, Professor and North Hall Chair, Physics
Renee Rottner, Associate Teaching Professor, Technology Management
Peter Rupert, Professor, Economics
Michael Stohl, Professor, Communication
Madeleine Sorapure, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education; Teaching Professor, Writing Program