Outgoing chancellor Nicholas Dirks announced the appointment of campus linguistics professor Sharon Inkelas as the Special Faculty Adviser to the Chancellor on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment in an email sent to campus Friday evening.

Inkelas succeeds Carla Hesse, who has served as interim Special Adviser since 2016. Hesse’s original appointment as the Interim Campus Lead on the campus response to sexual harassment and assault was part of reforms to campus sexual misconduct policy.

“I am honored to be selected as special faculty adviser on sexual harassment and sexual violence,” Inkelas said in an emailed statement. “I look forward to engaging with campus leadership, faculty, students, staff and others on this truly important, critical work.”

Inkelas, who will serve a three-year term beginning July 24, will work in collaboration with campus officials, including the Office for the Prevention of Harassment & Discrimination Title IX officer and university administration, to lead sexual violence and sexual harassment prevention initiatives.

Inkelas served as a member of the Chancellor’s Senate/Administration Committee on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment last year. She has been a member of the campus’s linguistics faculty since 1992.

“Professor Inkelas is a skillful consensus-builder, and her attention to open communication and transparency will be key qualities as she assumes this new role,” Dirks’ email read. “Strengthening sexual violence and sexual harassment prevention and response efforts on the Berkeley campus is one of our highest priorities.”