This summer's surprise announcement by Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien that he will leave his post no later than June 30, 1997, created what is surely a first for the University of California: its two biggest campuses may get new chancellors on the same day, as UCLA Chancellor Charles Young announced in March that he will be leaving the last day in June.
Tien's decision complicated the task facing UC President Richard Atkinson, who now must oversee concurrent searches that seem likely to draw on the same pool of candidates. To add to this complexity, the University of Michigan is looking for a president as well.
Chancellorial selection is not a consensus activity at UC; the president has complete authority to choose from among candidates, though the Board of Regents must approve the president's nominee. Current planning for the UCB and UCLA searches calls for short lists of candidates to be finalized by January, candidate interviews to take place in February, and the president to send his recommendations to the Regents in March.
Speaking to reporters last month, Atkinson said he did not believe the concurrent UCB and UCLA searches would diminish the quality of the candidate pool for either search. "We're going to have our candidates of choice," he said. "These two jobs are among the most prestigious jobs in higher education."
Names were finalized in September for the advisory committees that will assist Atkinson in the searches. The president is chairing both committees, whose members include UC Regents, UC faculty, students, staff and representatives of campus alumni and foundation groups.
The Regents on the Berkeley advisory committee are Ward Connerly, John Davies, Meredith Khachigian, Howard Leach, David Lee, and Regents' Chairman Tirso del Junco. UCB faculty representatives on the committee are William Oldham, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science; Carol Clover, a professor of Scandinavian and rhetoric, and Bradley Moore, a professor of chemistry. Also named to the committee were Francisco Ayala, a professor of biology at UC Irvine; and William M. Wara, a professor of radiation oncology at UC San Francisco and chair of the UCSF Senate Division.
Regents on the UCLA advisory committee are Frank Clark, Leo Kolligian,
Velma Montoya, Gerald Parsky and Tom Sayles, along with Board
Chair del Junco. UCLA faculty representatives on the committee
are Rosina Bercerra, a professor of social welfare; Christopher
Foote, a professor of chemistry-biochemistry; and Leonard Kleinrock,
a professor of computer science. Also named to the committee were
Marvin Goldberger, a professor of physics at UC San Diego, and
Duncan Luce, a professor of cognitive science at UC Irvine.