Jack Dixon will become dean for scientific affairs and health sciences at the University of California, San Diego, in February, following George Palade, who retired about a year ago. Dixon currently directs the life sciences institute at the University of Michigan. In California, he will also hold faculty appointments as professor of pharmacology and of cellular and molecular medicine. Dixon is known for his work on signal transduction, especially phosphatases and their role in cancer as well as in the cellular response to bacterial toxins.