Immediate Office Staff – Office of the Chancellor

Anna Finn
Associate Chancellor and Chief of Staff and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer

Anna Finn has served as the Associate Chancellor and Chief of Staff for UC Santa Cruz since July 2019 and took on the role of Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer (CECO) in March 2022. Anna earned a PhD in English from UC Irvine and previously worked as the Special Assistant to the Provost at UC Riverside. At UC Santa Cruz, Anna oversees the administrative management of the Chancellor’s office and Audit and Management Advisory Services, supports strategy and organizational change, and manages special projects with organizational-wide impact.

Christina Armstrong
Special Advisor and Director of Strategic Initiatives

Christina currently serves as Special Advisor and Director of Strategic Initiatives at UC Santa Cruz. In this role, she helps implement the strategic vision of the Chancellor and the university by providing project management of large and small scale initiatives that are stewarded by the Chancellor’s Office. As a student affairs professional by training, Christina brings over a decade of experience in higher education covering Title IX, student activities, and residential life. Christina has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Chico State and a Master of Science in Student Affairs and Higher Education from Indiana State University.

Sonya Kiernan
Executive Assistant to the Chancellor

Sonya Kiernan has supported the Chancellor’s Office as an executive assistant since January 2020. Prior to joining UC Santa Cruz, she worked in K-12 education for 16 years supporting administration. At UC Santa Cruz, Sonya supports the Chancellor’s Office in its mission and goals and oversees the daily administrative activities of the office. Sonya has a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Science from Southern Oregon University.

Amy Radovan
Executive Assistant

Amy Radovan works as an Executive Assistant supporting Anna Finn. She helps support staff calendars, schedule events, and manage daily office operations. Amy earned her BA from UCSC in Latin American Studies and her Masters in Higher Education Administration from San Jose State University. Amy has had the pleasure of working on campus for over 20 years. In her spare time she enjoys swimming with Cruz Masters, biking in the woods, and spending time with her family.

Special Advisors

Rodrigo Lazo
Director of HSRU Initiatives

Rodrigo Lazo is a professor in the Literature Department with an administrative background in supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. A former vice chancellor for DEI in the UC system, Lazo is UC Santa Cruz’s liaison to the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities. He works to bring together the HSRU mission with other Hispanic serving programs on our campus and to promote dialogue with other research universities. Lazo has an MS in journalism from Columbia University and a PhD in English from the University of Maryland, College Park. The author of numerous books and articles on Latino/a/x literary history and American literature, Lazo teaches courses on migration and literature and enjoys working with UCSC students.

Jacob Martinez
External Special Advisor to the Chancellor

In 2014, Jacob founded Digital NEST—a technology workforce development hub providing youth in rural communities with high-demand technology skills, mentoring, and hands-on experience so they can secure well-paying jobs. Prior, he spent nearly 10 years running a successful program funded by the National Science Foundation, encouraging underrepresented Latinos to study computer science. He is a 2020 recipient of the James Irvine Foundation “Leadership Award.” In 2018, he received the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership Community Impact award, and the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation selected him as an “Entrepreneur Fellow.” He spoke at the first White House Tech Meetup in 2015, and TechCrunch named him one of 2014’s “Top 10 Men in the Country Supporting Women in Technology.” Jacob plans to open a Digital NEST in every overlooked community in California and to prepare youth to transform them into thriving economic centers.

Teenie Matlock
Special Adviser to the Chancellor on Opportunities for Native Americans in STEM

Dr. Teenie Matlock has over 30 years experience in the UC system. After completing a PhD in Psychology at UC Santa Cruz and postdoctoral training at Stanford University, she became Founding Faculty at UC Merced, where she later served as Vice Provost for Academic Personnel. A cognitive scientist and linguist by training, she has published over 100 articles on how everyday language affects thinking, including the influence of metaphor on reasoning about health challenges, wildfire risk, and climate resilience. She is a member of Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation and is actively engaged in supporting and creating Native American initiatives in the UC system, including at UC Santa Cruz. Matlock has received awards for research, teaching, faculty mentoring, leadership, and community building, and has served on various boards, including the Cognitive Science Society Governing board.

Larry Samuels
Special Advisor for Economic Development and Partnerships

Dr. Larry Samuels brings 30 years of executive leadership experience, in both higher education and the technology industry, to his role as Special Advisor. His tech background includes C level positions at Communities.com, Creative Labs, and Atari. His doctoral studies at Stanford (MA, PhD) were focused on higher education system governance and his focus at UC Santa Cruz is on external partnerships and institutional growth. Prior to joining UCSC, Larry held similar leadership positions at CSU Monterey Bay and helped to found the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP).