For the first time in more than 30 years, UC Santa Barbara will have a new university leader this fall.
Dennis Assanis, 66, is taking over the role of university chancellor from Henry Yang. The change in leadership comes at a time when universities are facing federal pressure to reverse Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies, threats to international students’ visas, and reduced federal grants.
Assanis comes from the University of Delaware where he was president since 2016. He was appointed to the role of chancellor by the UC Regents on July 17 after months of speculation over who would take the job.
Assanis and Laura Carlson, interim UD president, did not respond to Noozhawk’s request to comment on this story.
Le Anh Metzger, a fourth-year UCSB student studying communications, global studies and Spanish who is also serving as the Associated Students president for the 2025-26 school year, said she hopes Assanis works well with student government and improves communication from administration.
“I’m really just hoping that we can have good, open communication, and work together,” Metzger said. “Hopefully we’ll have good working relationships to improve student life and in the aspects that we need to work on like housing, basic needs, food insecurity.”
Students also want to make sure the new leader protects research funding and international and undocumented students as the federal administration has made efforts to evoke student visas.
“It’s a hard balance of wanting to maintain our research funding and our grants while also staying true to our values,” Metzger said. “I’m looking for a strong leader who can navigate that balance and not give up what this university stands for.”
Metzger said it is a bit intimidating to be the student government leader during a major transition, but she wants to help set a positive tone for the future.
“It’s a lot of pressure, because I think how this school year goes will probably set the tone and set the relationship between Associated Students and the chancellor’s office for the many years to come,” Metzger said.
During Assanis’ time at UD, some faculty members had concerns about how much the university was spending on new development.
Under Assanis’ leadership the university launched the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) facility, which is home to the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals that leads in researching vaccines and pharmaceuticals, according to UCSB.
Persephone Braham, professor of Spanish and Latin American and Iberian studies and president of the American Association of University Professors’ (AAUP) University of Delaware chapter, said some faculty members were frustrated about the university’s spending during Assanis’ tenure.
“He’s a very entertaining, very cordial guy, but the direction of the university went away from core educational missions, the historic core, to a lot of different directions that made a lot of us uncomfortable as resources were redirected,” Braham said.
Braham explained that faculty had concerns about the university’s spending priorities as funding was going toward investing into new infrastructure rather than investing into the campus’ existing infrastructure.
From 2018-2024 UD spent $923.1 million on new buildings and renovations, according to a recent study commissioned by AAUP and written by Rudy Fichtenbaum, a professor of economics at Wright State University in Ohio who works with the AAUP.
While Assanis was president, UD also opened a new interdisciplinary science center, focused on brain science, biological science and quantum science. The university also renovated Worrilow Hall, a research facility for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), an engineering Design Studio, as well as classrooms and laboratories, according to the University of Delaware.
When Assanis announced he was leaving UD in May, he told the Spotlight Delaware that he didn’t have a new job lined up. He left the university a year before his contact was set to expire in June 2026.
Braham said she was surprised to hear the news that Assanis was coming to UCSB, as it was her understanding that he would be taking a break. Her message to UCSB faculty was simply:
“Keep an eye on the numbers.”
While most of UCSB’s faculty and staff have only known the university under Yang’s leadership, retired sociology Professor Richard Flacks has seen four chancellors run the campus.
Despite the failures to produce housing, Flacks said he felt that Yang was the first chancellor that tried to do the right thing, at least most of the time.
“He has been the best of the chancellors we’ve had in terms of working in consultation and collaboration with faculty and with students,” Flacks said. “For many years, he was appreciated by both faculty and students more than I think I’ve seen the other chancellors; they tended to want to exercise their own authority, they were not very ready to share decision making with faculty and students, and that led to their downfall.”
Flacks retired in 2006, but he still hosts a KCSB radio show “Culture of Protests” and works on the radio show “Inside IV.” He’s also part of the Sustainability University Now (SUN) Coalition, which aims to facilitate sustainable campus development.
In 2022 Santa Barbara County and SUN accused the university of violating a contract to cap enrollment, build housing for 5,000 additional students and 1,800 faculty and staff, and mitigate environmental and traffic impacts from the new housing.
The parties later reached a settlement in 2024 where the university agreed to provide 3,500 new student beds and pay $3.7 million to the county to fund community-serving projects in Isla Vista.
The university is currently working on the San Benito housing project, which will add a total of 3,500 undergraduate student beds to the campus by 2029.
Flacks said that as the new chancellor, Assanis will have to fix the recent failures to develop enough housing for students and employees.
“There has to be recognition that the more UCSB students and employees are in the general housing market, the worse the general regional housing crisis of affordability grows,” Flacks said. “That has been the case for the last ten years or so.”
Since Flacks began working at UCSB in 1969, he said he’s seen the campus become more diverse, which he encourages the new administration to continue prioritizing.
“I think it’s a great place, and it’s partly a great place because the student body is a really interesting, diverse community of people,” Flacks said. “That has to be defended, and that’s not easy in the Trump era as it might have been before, given their attack on what they call DEI.”
Second District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps, who represents Isla Vista, the home to a majority of UCSB students, said she’s eager to work with Assanis.
“I look forward to meeting him and happy he’ll be on board,” Capps said. “I look forward to working with him in partnership to responsible community growth, to meet the needs of students, first and foremost on housing and safety.”
Capps, whose father, Walter Capps, was a popular UCSB professor and congressman, said community members made it clear during the search process that the university needed more housing for students and faculty.
“I hope that he doubles down on that responsibility, and I have every reason to believe that he would, and that he will, and I look forward to being a strong partner with him on that,” Capps said.
Assanis’ Personal History
Long before Assanis was leading major U.S. universities, he was born and raised in Athens, Greece. He received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Newcastle University in England in 1980.
He then went on to earn three master’s degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) including naval architecture and marine engineering in 1982, mechanical engineering in 1982 and management in 1986. In 1985 he earned a Ph.D. in power and propulsion from MIT.
Before he was the president of UD, Assanis served as provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Stony Brook University in New York from 2011 to 2016.
Before his time at Stony Brook University, he spent 17 years at the University of Michigan where he was a professor of mechanical engineering and held various leadership roles.
When Assanis begins his role in Santa Barbara, it’s unclear where he and his family will live.
Chancellor Housing
The University House on UCSB campus, which traditionally houses the chancellor and chancellor’s family, is set to undergo renovations starting this year to upgrade the home. Improvements will include updating electrical, heating and plumbing, and doors and windows will be replaced.
In May the UC Regents approved a $25,000 monthly rent budget for a house for the incoming chancellor. No specific house was selected at the time, but the house will be required to be near campus and be large enough to host university-related events.
Noozhawk asked Kiki Reyes, UCSB’s media relations manager, if temporary housing has been found, if the Yangs have moved out of the university house, and if renovations have started, but Reyes only confirmed that renovations haven’t begun.
The Search For Assanis
Last fall a search committee was formed to review candidates for chancellor and make a recommendation to the UC president. In November the search committee held town halls with UCSB students, faculty and staff to hear what they wanted from the next university leader.
Faculty and students said they wanted a chancellor who prioritized housing, addressed the campus’s aging infrastructure, and stood firm for academic freedom.
In March the search committee finished their obligations after they presented UC President Michael Drake with five to six names for consideration.
The announcement of the new chancellor was expected in March, but for reasons still unclear, the announcement didn’t come until July. UC officials declined to share updates regarding the search when Noozhawk inquired in May.
In June, UCSB’s Executive Vice Chancellor David Marshall was named as interim chancellor, a role he will serve until Sept. 1 when Assanis takes over.
Marshall said he will be working with Assanis to ensure a smooth transition of power.
“I have already spoken with him a few times, and I have been impressed by his insight and engagement, even in the questions he has asked,” Marshall said in a statement to Noozhawk. “I will be working on providing a smooth transition so Dr. Assanis can hit the ground running in September. The campus is ready to build on the strong foundation of Chancellor Yang’s legacy. We have momentum and a sense of purpose.”