Former president's reforms helped shape UC into country's most prestigious public system

The passing of Clark Kerr on Dec. 1, at age 92, was perhaps of
little significance to the majority of today’s UCLA faculty,
staff and student body. The descriptions of Clark may seem remote:
the first chancellor of UC Berkeley and then president of the
University of California nearly four decades ago, before
unceremoniously being fired by the UC Board of Regents in January
1967. Let the record be clear: Clark Kerr was the most significant
leader in U.S. higher education in the 20th century.

I had the honor of leading the University of California as UC
president for eight years, beginning in 1975. As president, I
gained a full appreciation of the challenges Clark faced as the
leader of the University as well as his unparalleled
accomplishments.

During my UCLA faculty career in the 1950s and ’60s, I had
admired Clark from afar as he led the development of the California
Master Plan for Higher Education in 1959, and in the process, hired
a 28-year-old to assist him ““ the same man who would become
chancellor of UCLA nine years later: Charles Young. I saw
Clark’s leadership in establishing three new UC campuses
(Irvine, San Diego, Santa Cruz), moving them from concept to
reality within an amazingly short six years.

Clark’s legacy is the California Master Plan, which
harmoniously combined quality and access. It is tragic that the
Legislature of today is contemplating modification of the tenets of
that Master Plan after nearly 50 years. The reality is that the
California economic engine depends on the most advanced higher
education system in the world.

In the 1950s, public universities that were developing around
the country relied on the traditional “flagship” model,
with smaller “satellite” campuses. Clark Kerr’s
vision rejected this model for California. Clark proposed ““
courageously ““ that enrollment be limited at UC Berkeley and
at UCLA. Furthermore, he insisted that the new campuses being
developed in the UC system not be merely smaller
“satellite” campuses, but instead, full campuses in
their own right.

The strength of the UC system was born from Clark’s
vision. Today, six UC campuses (Berkeley, Los Angeles, Irvine,
Davis, Santa Barbara, San Diego) are members of the 62-member
Association of American Universities. No other public university
system in the United States has more than one campus in the AAU, a
self-designated group of the most prestigious research
institutions.

Clark Kerr’s greatness can be appreciated by looking
beyond the borders of California and seeing the limitations of the
university systems of other states. While many states have
excellent flagship campuses of 45,000 to 60,000 students, their
overall strength falls short in comparison to the strength of the
UC system. Today’s UC leadership, as well as the
state’s leaders in Sacramento ““ old and new ““
must not forsake Clark Kerr’s legacy.

David Saxon, professor emeritus in the department of physics
and astronomy, joined the UCLA faculty in 1947. He served as 14th
president of the University of California from 1975 to
1983.