Leaders at the yet-to-open University of California, Merced, announced the arrival of nine new faculty members this month, bringing the school's professor ranks to 27.

Among the recently recruited faculty are an economist from the University of Arizona, a psychologist from UCLA and a demographer and immigration expert from the San Francisco-based Public Policy Institute of California.

All nine faculty members are part of UC Merced's School of Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts, one of three schools to make up the campus that is scheduled to open for undergraduate students next fall.
"Hiring this group of scholars is a significant accomplishment that has consumed a major portion of our time over the last year," said Kenji Hakuta, dean of the school. "They are a dream team."

UC Merced's newest professors include: Shawn Kantor, economics; Manuel Martin-Rodriguez, Chicano and Latino language, literature and culture; Teenie Matlock, cognitive science and psycholinguistics; Ruth Mostern, geography; Dunya Ramicova, theatre and costume design; Belinda Reyes, demography and immigration; Cristian Ricci, Spanish and Portuguese literature; J. Arthur Woodward, psychology and Jeffrey Yoshimi, philosophy.

The university, under construction on a former golf course northeast of Merced, will be UC's 10th campus.