University of California President Robert C. Dynes issued the following statement today (May 7) regarding the announcement that UC Riverside Chancellor France Córdova will be stepping down this summer to assume the presidency of Purdue University:

Chancellor Córdova's departure is a real loss for the University of California. France has provided superb leadership for UC Riverside as chancellor and has demonstrated great potential for even higher levels of achievement still ahead of her. Purdue University clearly recognized that. I worked very hard to encourage her to remain at UCR, but I respect her decision and wish her only the very best.

In her five years at UC Riverside, Chancellor Córdova has worked with great energy and passion to develop a long-term strategy for the campus, continue building strength in the academic enterprise and the quality of the student experience, and further expand UCR's contributions to the Inland Empire community. She has spearheaded a health sciences initiative that aims ultimately to establish a medical school, an effort that will continue moving ahead despite her departure. UCR is a proud institution with a very clear sense of forward motion, and France deserves a great deal of the credit for that.

We will be naming an acting chancellor in the near future and will begin a search for a permanent successor as soon as possible. UC Riverside is a campus of great accomplishment, wonderful diversity, and tremendous potential. I am confident that we will secure strong and spirited leadership to continue propelling UCR on its positive upward trajectory.

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More information about Córdova's appointment is available at www.newsroom.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=1581