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UCLA law Professor Emeritus Norman Abrams was appointed interim chancellor of UCLA after Albert C

Almost half a century ago, a man began his relationship with UCLA. He taught, served as an administrator, and taught some more over the tenures of almost half of UCLA’s chancellors. His tall shadow can be traced walking around campus admiring the architecture and interacting with students along his path.

The same man will continue to walk a path. But this time around, he will hold a new position that has more influence on UCLA than any other.

He is Norman Abrams, the recently appointed acting chancellor of UCLA.

Appointed as the interim chancellor by UC President Robert Dynes in June, Abrams has already attracted spotlight attention over his proposals to change admissions policy and increase faculty security measures.

Abrams, a professor emeritus of law, has been the interim chancellor since July 1, immediately following the end of former Chancellor Albert Carnesale’s nine-year term.

Abrams has seemingly cooked a feast of proposals and policy changes in his first two months, but his stated vision for UCLA does not reflect his actions. Abrams said he wants to “maintain UCLA’s pace.”

“Generally, I think UCLA is in good shape,” he said.

However, the university has faced criticism recently for its admissions statistics.

UCLA drew national attention and criticism from some education analysts in June when it released the statistics of its incoming freshman class.

The statistics showed that the demographics of underrepresented student minorities were continuing in a declining trend.

The statistic that drew the most attention was the figure showing that 95 black students had enrolled in the incoming class of 2006, which totals thousands.

Since then, Abrams’ quick response and call for action was a catalyst to drafting policy changes for the admissions process. A “holistic approach” was introduced in what seemed like an overnight process. Other campus boards are now reviewing the process for approval.

But Abrams’ work did not stop with proposing changes to admissions policy.

He also responded with added security measures when a faculty researcher was the target of an attempted terrorist bombing.

The Animal Liberation Front, an animal rights group, recently carried out terrorist acts against a UCLA professor who uses chimpanzees in his research, which also stirred commotion.

Abrams announced UCLA has added extended security efforts for the safety of its faculty, though those details are not made public since disclosing the efforts would compromise the effectiveness of the security they are meant to provide.

But Abrams also wants to foster a welcoming environment for the UCLA community, especially among the first-years.

“We’ve got a lovely community and the campus and the architecture is just wonderful. We want students to feel part of the campus and part of the community,” Abrams said.

“I’ve been doing this and will do more of it once students come back and that is to just walk around and interact with students,” he added. “(UCLA) is a very special place and everyone should take great pride in it.”

Abrams also said he expects to continue fundraising at least to the same degree that has been done in the past.

“(Fundraising) is certainly a big part of my job – it’s not the only thing, but it is important,” he said. “And certainly it is part of my job to maintain the same level of fundraising and if I can build on that, then great.”

Abrams’ tenure comes after that of a chancellor who led the highest-yielding fundraising campaign for any public university – Carnesale led Campaign UCLA, which raised more than $3.2 billion.

And though no dramatic fundraising proposals are planned, only the events of the year will reveal just how active of a role Abrams will assume.

Maximo Langer, a professor at the law school, has known Abrams for three years and said he thinks of the interim chancellor as a “generous and thoughtful person and scholar.”

Another colleague of Abrams, Herbert Morris, a professor emeritus of philosophy and law who has known and worked with Abrams for about 50 years, said Abrams possesses qualities that would make his tenure as acting chancellor a great success.

“He is cool and patient under fire,” Morris said. “He is decisive after conscientious consideration of the issue before him.”

Chancellor advisory committee members are still taking part in a search process to recommend a permanent chancellor to succeed Albert Carnesale.

The process has stretched to its 10th month, but the committee hopes to forward its recommendation to Dynes and the UC Regents for final approval sometime before the end of the academic year.

But even after a permanent chancellor is chosen, Abrams will probably continue to walk that path of admiration for UCLA.

And since Abrams is a big fan of UCLA sports, particularly basketball, students are likely to find that his path will lead him to Pauley Pavilion.