Joel Michaelsen, Professor Emeritus and a cofounder of the CHC, served as Chair of the Department of Geography from 1991 to 1997. Joel was elected Chair of the Academic Senate for both the 2006-2008 and the 2008-2010 terms. He has been a member of both the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Use of Remote Sensing for Human Welfare applications and the proposal review panels of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Global Change. While Chair, Joel instituted biannual departmental beach barbecues, which are still celebrated today.