UC chancellors met with Yudof after his appointment as UC's 19th president: (left to right) Robert Bigeneau, UC Berkeley; Steve Kang, UC Merced; Yudof; Henry Yang, UC Santa Barbara; George Blumenthal, UC Santa Cruz.

New UC president supports diversity, affordability

UC President-designate Mark Yudof has been a national advocate for higher education diversity and affordability – a role he intends to import to California.

Yudof, whom the UC Board of Regents appointed as the 19th University of California president on March 27, will take over as head of UC on June 16. He will succeed Robert Dynes, who announced last summer that he would be stepping down as president in June. Dynes, a well-known physicist and former UC San Diego chancellor, will return to teaching.

"It's hard to imagine a more stimulating job than serving as president of what I view as the premier public university system in the world," Yudof said after Regents announced his appointment. "I'm really looking forward to the challenge."

Yudof has served as chancellor of the University of Texas system since 2002. Before that he was president of the University of Minnesota and was a longtime dean, provost and faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to serving as UC president, he will hold a faculty appointment in the School of Law at UC Berkeley, where he once was a visiting professor.

During a press conference following the announcement of his appointment, Yudof shared two of his initial goals: maintaining academic excellence and continuing the restructuring of the UC Office of the President.

"The role of a system office is to facilitate what the campuses are trying to accomplish and to add value," he said. "If you can't add value, get out of the way."

He will continue to examine the roles of UC's central administration and its cost, he said. Yudof also emphasized the importance of accountability at the systemwide and campus levels to demonstrate the return on the public’s investment in the university.

Yudof described himself as pro-affirmative action and said although he will respect the law, he wouldn't have voted for California's 1996 Proposition 209 ballot measure, which prohibits using race, gender or ethnicity in determining college admissions or hiring.

"I'm a big believer in social and economic mobility and no permanent underclass," he said. "I believe affirmative action is not the only tool, but a tool to get there."

Yudof voiced concern over the rising cost of public higher education and the national dwindling of state support for these institutions.

"If I had my way, the closer tuition is to zero, the happier I am," he said. "I don't want a person to be precluded from coming to the University of California because they can't afford it."

Yudof said he would work as hard as he can to increase state support. In Texas, Yudof is praised for his administrative expertise and his ability to work with the state legislature. A legal scholar and authority on constitutional law, Yudof has written and edited books on gender discrimination and free speech. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Law Institute. In 2006, President George Bush appointed Yudof to The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. A native of Philadelphia, Yudof earned a bachelor's and an LL.B. degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

"Chancellor Yudof is simply outstanding in the field," said Richard Blum, chairman of the UC Regents and head of the presidential search committee that selected Yudof. "He has demonstrated superb leadership at the helm of another distinguished multicampus system, and his record of accomplishment in a lifetime of service to public higher education speaks for itself."

Blum said he can't think of a better person to lead the UC system though its day-to-day challenges and to provide a long-term vision for its future.

To read more about Mark Yudof, visit www.universityofcalifornia.edu/newpresident2008