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Berkeley¹s chancellor resigns

By Daily Bruin Staff

July 14, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Sunday, July 14, 1996

Chang-Lin Tien greatly supported the students, campusBy John
Digrado

Summer Bruin Senior Staff

Citing his desire to devote more time to his family and
research, UC Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien announced early
last Tuesday that he would end his six-year reign over the flagship
campus no later than June 30, 1997.

"It has been a great honor and privilege for me to serve as
Berkeley’s chancellor," Tien said at a press conference announcing
his resignation. "Now I would like to go back to my scholastic
activities and spend more time with my family."

The 60-year-old chancellor had considered resigning several
times over the past year, most notably after the Board of Regents
voted to institute a UC-wide repeal of affirmative action programs
last July.

However, those considerations came to fruition last week,
leaving many to speculate the myriad of unspoken reasons that may
have lurked behind Tien’s announcement.

"The regents never fully appreciated Tien’s leadership skills,"
California Gov. Pete Wilson said in a statement. "On some
occasions, he was treated downright shabbily."

Tien is the third UC chancellor to announce his resignation in
the past year, following UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Karl S. Pister
and UCLA Chancellor Charles Young. Pister officially resigned
earlier this month, while Tien and Young are scheduled to leave
their posts on the same date.

The departures mark a drastic changing of the guard in the
prestigious university’s leadership. With UC President Richard C.
Atkinson having been in office less than one year, the loss of Tien
leaves UC Riverside Chancellor Raymond Orbach as the administrator
with the longest tenure at the nine campus university.

Orbach was appointed to his post four years ago, paling in
comparison to Young’s 27 years at UCLA’s helm.

"Fully a third of the UC chancellors have announced their
resignations (in the past year)," Wilson said, speculating that the
regents themselves "need to look in the mirror and shoulder some of
the blame for the loss of this cherished chancellor.

"Maybe Tien’s departure will teach the board something about
shared governance," Wilson added.

Tien’s resignation surprised many at the university, where he
routinely walked the Berkeley campus, mingling with students and
professors alike.

The announcement "dropped like a bomb on campus," Berkeley
Professor Ling-Chi Wang told The Times. "Everybody was caught off
guard."

Over the course of his six-year chancellorship, Tien often stood
up for the students of his campus. Tien helped raise $780 million
in funds for the campus to combat student fee hikes and state
budget cutbacks that threatened the university.

And his ardent support of affirmative action led him to found
and personally fund the Berkeley Pledge, an outreach program
preparing minority high school students to make UC admission
requirements to maintain diversity at the campus.

"His leadership has been crucial to the pledge," Berkeley Pledge
coordinator Anita Madrid said in an interview with the Daily
Californian. "But he said that he will maintain his support in the
pledge in whatever way he can."

However, the search for a successor to Tien’s reign must begin
soon.

"In announcing my resignation, I want to make sure that (UC)
President Atkinson will have ample time to choose my successor,"
Tien said. "I realize it is time for me to pass the baton to a new
generation of leaders."

A search committee comprised of a combination of regents and
Berkeley faculty will be formed in the coming weeks in order to
advise Atkinson in his decision.

While Berkeley officials said that the search for a replacement
is still in its first stages, they also noted that chancellors
typically come from within the campus administration or faculty,
causing many to speculate about possible successors.

Among those who may be under consideration in the coming months
is current Berkeley Vice Chancellor and Provost Carol Christ.

"(Christ) is certainly one of the inside members of the
administration who might well move into this position, but there
are others," said Berkeley Vice Chancellor of Undergraduate Affairs
Genaro Padilla in an interview with the San Francisco Examiner.

Beginning as a professor of mechanical engineering in 1959, Tien
rose to the pinnacle of Berkeley’s administration over the course
of more than 30 years.

After 10 years as a faculty member, Tien chaired two departments
until he was named vice chancellor of research in 1983. In 1988, he
took an executive vice chancellor post at UC Irvine, and was
offered Berkeley’s chancellorship two years later.

Since 1990, Berkeley has consistently been one of the top
colleges in the nation, with the largest number of top-ranked
graduate programs of any university in the United States.

"I have chosen to leave next year because the campus is at a
high point in its history," Tien said, citing Berkeley’s rank by
the National Research Council as the best research university in
the nation.

But although the Berkeley campus will be under new leadership
after the 1996-1997 academic year, Tien pledged continued
dedication to the school after his departure.

"I will continue to pursue that goal (of excellence) in whatever
capacity I may serve in the future," Tien said. "My entire family
is fully devoted to Cal and I assure you that we will continue our
active involvement with the campus in the future."

Chang-Lin Tien

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