Carnesale bids farewell to regents meetings
By Richard Clough
May 18, 2006 9:00 p.m.
SAN FRANCISCO “”mdash; As he gets ready to close a nine-year
chapter of his life, Chancellor Albert Carnesale will have many
lasts.
Last sporting event.
Last day of class.
And Thursday, Carnesale attended his last meeting of the UC
Board of Regents before he steps down as chancellor June 30.
Like a student who always sits in the same seat during lectures,
Carnesale took his usual spot on the far right side of the front
row in the quaint lecture hall where most of the regents meetings
are held.
He remained stoic during most of the meeting, his concentration
broken occasionally as he checked his BlackBerry wireless e-mail
device.
The regents meet every two months, and in all his years as
chancellor, Carnesale said he has been to perhaps every single
meeting.
“I may have missed one in nine years,” he said.
“It’s a high priority for UCLA and it’s a high
priority for me to make sure that we’re represented at the
meetings.”
Many of the regents themselves cannot boast such an impeccable
attendance record. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a regent by virtue
of his position, has yet to attend a meeting.
This was Carnesale’s last meeting as chancellor, but he is
not leaving the UC for good.
Carnesale will take a one-year sabbatical, during which he plans
to spend most of his time at the Harvard University Kennedy School
of Government preparing syllabi for his return to UCLA as a
professor of public policy and mechanical and aerospace
engineering.
As Regents Chairman Gerald Parsky said, Carnesale will be
leaving his post, but he “is staying in the
family.”
Carnesale said he has mixed emotions about leaving his post, but
he said “it’s an important time to return to my
scholarly work.”
Regent Norman Pattiz, who considers Carnesale “a friend
for whom I have great respect,” said he has known Carnesale
for seven or eight years. The two work together occasionally
outside of the university setting, as Carnesale is a member of the
board of directors for Westwood One, a radio network founded and
chaired by Pattiz.
“I think that Al Carnesale is a man of the highest
integrity and with an international reputation that has brought
great honor and credibility to UCLA,” Pattiz said. “Now
that he is returning to academia … I think that he will continue
to do so.”
In his last meeting, Carnesale learned about his own future
financial situation as the regents approved his salary after he
steps down. He will earn over $300,000 over the next year and over
$200,000 when he returns as a professor.
