Ralph J. Hexter

Ralph J. Hexter was named systemwide interim provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of California on September 1, 2026.

Dr. Hexter was provost and executive vice chancellor at UC Davis from 2011 to 2020, where he helped guide significant growth in enrollment, faculty and infrastructure and championed public and community-engaged scholarship. He also served as acting and interim chancellor of UC Davis from April 2016 to July 2017.

From 1995 to 2005, Dr. Hexter was a professor of classics and comparative literature at UC Berkeley. During his tenure, he served as chair of the Department of Comparative Literature, dean of Arts and Humanities, and executive dean of the College of Letters and Science. 

Dr. Hexter served as president of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, from 2005 through 2010. He previously held faculty and leadership positions at Yale University and the University of Colorado Boulder. 

Dr. Hexter was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016.

Throughout his career, Dr. Hexter has continued to teach, lecture, and publish on the interpretation and meaning of classical Greek and Roman literature from antiquity through the Middle Ages to modern times, as well as other topics.

In all of his leadership positions, Dr. Hexter has made it a priority to foster excellence across the full range of disciplines, and to promote equal opportunity for all students, faculty, and staff. A recipient of the University of Massachusetts’ Continuing the Legacy of Stonewall Award (2008), he was among the founding members of LGBTQ Presidents (now Leaders) in Higher Education.

Dr. Hexter received his A.B. in English literature from Harvard College and a B.A. and M.A. in classics and modern languages from the University of Oxford. He earned an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in comparative literature from Yale University.