Roger Wakimoto (he/him) became the UCLA Vice Chancellor for Research on July 1, 2017. Roger is an accomplished atmospheric scientist specializing in research on mesoscale meteorology, particularly severe convective storms, and radar meteorology. He was a member of the UCLA atmospheric sciences faculty in 1983 – 2005, serving as Chair in 1996-2000. After his tenure at UCLA, Roger served as the Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Earth Observing Laboratory.. He most recently served as Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation Directorate for Geosciences, where he led a division that supported atmospheric, geospace, polar, earth, and ocean sciences with a $1.3 billion annual budget. Roger received his bachelor’s degree with honors and great distinction in meteorology from San Jose State University, and he earned his Ph.D. in geophysical sciences from the University of Chicago.