Launched in August 2020, the UCI Black Thriving Initiative (BTI) is the University of California, Irvine’s university-wide response to systemic racism. The BTI recognizes racism as an existential threat to the mission of the university and society at large. It mobilizes the entire campus to change the culture, harness the mission and engage communities to build a university where Black people thrive, including undergraduates and graduate students, faculty, and staff employees as well as alumni and communities served by UCI in California, the United States and around the world.
Building on UCI’s enduring commitment to inclusive excellence, the BTI faculty cluster hire program leverages the University’s research, teaching, and service mission to advance understanding about the multi-faceted nature of the Black experience and the drivers of well-being in support of Black communities. To this end, each faculty cluster will receive a $150,000 augmentation award for programs that aligns with BTI.
New IE Faculty Hires
The Infrastructure Equity (IE) faculty cluster hiring program is recruiting four engaged scholars across the fields of planning, policy, engineering, environmental science, and law to address social, environmental, and racial disparities in infrastructure planning, design, and implementation. The initiative includes the UC Irvine Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Department of Earth System Science, and School of Law.
The following three IE scholars joined the UCI faculty in July 2023:
Dominic Bednar, Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy
Examines equitable pathways for decarbonization of energy infrastructure, workforce development for Black and Brown communities, and the equity implications of household energy assistance programs.
Elisa Borowski, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Utilizes social science and engineering methods to examine equity of transportation infrastructure and hazards, with a record of direct engagement with Black and marginalized communities.
Veena Dubal, Professor of Law, UCI Law School
Examines social, economic, and technological infrastructures, including discriminatory labor practices within transportation/mobility firms, and the land use and equity impacts of emerging mobility systems on historically Black communities in San Francisco.
The following IE scholar will join the UCI faculty in July 2025:
Leonard Ohenhen, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth System Science
Examines compound coastal flooding hazards and the impact of climate change on urban infrastructure and ecosystems, including disparate impacts for vulnerable communities.