Michael R. Gottfredson is chief academic and operating officer for the campus, overseeing the academic development of the campus and the allocation of resources. Working with the deans of the nine campus schools and colleges, the director of the university hospital, faculty senate leadership and other vice chancellors, he helps guide UC Irvine through a period of substantial growth. He teaches freshman seminars and graduate courses as a Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society.

Prior to joining the University of California, Professor Gottfredson was on the faculties of the State University of New York at Albany, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Claremont Graduate School. For 15 years he was a Professor of Management and Policy, Law, and Psychology at the University of Arizona. He was named Anderson Consulting Professor of the Year at the Eller College at Arizona in 1994 for "contributions as scholar, educator and community leader." Also at Arizona he served as Department Head, Vice Provost and Vice President for Undergraduate Education and Interim Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. While at Arizona he was honored by the Association for Women Faculty for "distinguished efforts in support of equity" and the College of Fine Arts with the "Bravissimo Award."

Michael Gottfredson is the author or co-author of nine books and numerous journal and law review articles about crime and justice. He was elected Fellow of the American Society of Criminology and has received the Distinguished Graduate Award from the Nelson Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma. He has served as the Director of the Criminal Justice Research Center (a non-profit research organization in New York) and as a board member of the Parent Connection, the Crime and Justice Research Center, the Arizona Juvenile Justice Commission, the Orange County United Way and OCTANe. In 2001, he was given the Paul Tappan Award of the Western Society of Criminology for "outstanding contributions to criminology" and in 2003 the Richard McGee Award by the American Justice Institute for "outstanding contributions to crime and delinquency theory." He maintains an active interest in his research specialization centering on the causes and prevention of crime and delinquency (Chester Britt and Michael Gottfredson, Eds., Control Theories of Crime and Delinquency, New Brunswick: Transaction. 2003.)