Professor begins new duties as associate provost June 21

By Craig Chamberlain

C.L. "David" Liu has been appointed associate provost at the UI. His
appointment was approved in May at a meeting of the UI Board of Trustees.

Liu, a professor in the department of computer science, will begin his new
duties on June 21. The position was created to provide better coordination
and administration of efforts related to the undergraduate experience.

"What we're trying to do is establish strong and focused leadership by a
faculty member over undergraduate initiatives at the campus level," said
Larry R. Faulkner, UI provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Liu was an ideal candidate for the job, Faulkner said. "He is a very
distinguished professor with high marks in both his scholarly reputation
and his teaching record. He is a multiple teaching-award winner, and
commands respect from a wide range of people. "I'm very pleased to get
him."

Liu earned a bachelor's degree from National Cheng Kung University in
Taiwan in 1956 and a master's degree and doctorate from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, in 1960 and 1962, respectively.

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to contribute to our campuswide
effort in building up truly outstanding educational programs for all of our
undergraduate students," Liu said. "This is especially exciting because the
chancellor and the provost have made improving undergraduate education a
commitment of the highest priority."

A professor of electrical engineering at MIT for 10 years, Liu joined the
U. of I. faculty in 1972. He also has held visiting academic appointments
at Harvard University and at universities in Berlin; Mexico City; Paris;
Pisa, Italy; Singapore; and Taiwan.