Davis, California, USA
January 29, 2024
Gail Taylor has chaired the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences since 2017, and was the first woman to lead it. Taylor will leave the department to become dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University College of London, in the United Kingdom. (Jael Mackendorf/UC Davis)
After chairing the Department of Plant Sciences for seven years, Gail Taylor has taken a new appointment as the dean of Life Sciences, University College London. She will start her new role later this year.
“It’s been an honor to lead one of the best groups of plant scientists in the world, and I am sad to be leaving UC Davis,” Taylor said. “As any leader knows, the most import asset we have is our people. In the Department of Plant Sciences, our students, staff and faculty never cease to amaze me with their enthusiasm, commitment and dedication to their subjects.”
Taylor will lead the Faculty of Life Sciences at UCL, which hosts 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students. Their studies range from fundamental research into the origins of life and evolutionary genetics through structural, molecular and cell biology, developmental biology and neuroscience, to ecology and biodiversity. The Faculty of Life Sciences has five divisions – Biosciences, the School of Pharmacy, the Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Biology, the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit and the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neurocircuits – which together embrace 11 departments.
UCL is a public research institution founded in 1826 and is the second-largest university in the United Kingdom. It was the first university in England to welcome women on equal terms as men. It sees more than 41,000 students and is consistently ranked among the top 10 higher education institutions in the world.
UC Davis poised to continue leading the world in plant sciences
Gail Taylor's research includes leafy greens such as watercress, which she and students grow in vertical panels inside a shipping container converted into a controlled environment agriculture facility. (UC Davis)
During her tenure as chair of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, Taylor has overseen the appointment of 15 new faculty members. Their expertise varies widely, from urban plants to molecular plant breeding; a sixteenth faculty member is coming, with expertise in protected horticulture. She led development of a new strategic plan for the department, and on the re-organization of undergraduate teaching to launch the new plant sciences major.
Taylor initiated many new activities in the department, including a new diversity, equity and inclusion committee, and worked to make Plant Sciences a more inclusive and welcoming place to work. Those efforts were informed by her pioneering role as the first woman to be appointed chair of Plant Sciences or any of its four root departments, going back more than a century. She also is a distinguished professor and the John B. Orr Endowed Professor in Environmental Plant Sciences – among a historic four women faculty in the department to receive endowments.
Her leadership ensured that essential and critical operations were maintained and staff and faculty were supported during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges of that time, the department remains No. 1 in the world for plant sciences, with world-leading discoveries, highly cited papers and researchers, patents, and the release of new plant varieties including beans, grain crops and strawberries. External income has increased to more than $40 million yearly for two years running.
In the last two years, Taylor has been a member of the leadership team planning for the new Agricultural Innovation Center. That follows a $50-million donation for a new building that brings together engineering and plant sciences to develop new innovations for food systems.
The department is well-positioned to continue its trajectory of global leadership and excellence, Taylor said.
“As the world wrestles with climate change, declining biodiversity, increased pollution and land degradation, green plants have rarely been more important,” Taylor said. “The incredible translational science that this department undertakes in delivering food for the nation and the world, protecting and enhancing ecosystems and ensuring a sustainable future, really matters.
“I wish everyone in the department well in their future endeavors.”
Related links
More about Gail Taylor here.
More about University College London here.
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