Big woman on campus

Chico State has hired a dean from San Jose State as the university’s new provost, the second-in-command administrator on campus.

Belle W. Y. Wei, (pictured) a native of Taiwan, will take on her duties as provost and vice president of Academic Affairs on Aug. 1. Wei has been the dean of engineering at San Jose State for a decade and comes to Chico with a stellar résumé.

Her academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in biophysics and a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley, as well as a master’s degree in engineering from Harvard.

In a press release, Chico State President Paul Zingg said Wei (pictured) was the first choice among “a deep and impressive pool of candidates.” (Wei takes the place of Sandra Flake, who resigned as provost last spring without explanation.)