UC Board of Regents names Michael Drake the UC’s first Black president

This post was updated July 7 at 6:16 p.m.

The University of California has a new president. 

The UC Board of Regents unanimously approved Michael Drake as the next UC president at their July 7 meeting. He will be the 21st UC president.

Drake will be the UC’s first Black president and will start his term no later than Aug. 15.

Drake was the president of the Ohio State University from 2014 to June 2020. He previously was the chancellor of UC Irvine from 2005 to 2014. 

Drake was the chair of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities which focuses on improving and promoting public universities’ work in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and was also the chair of the Association of American Universities, which is composed of 65 research universities.

Prior to serving as chancellor at UC Irvine, Drake was a professor of ophthalmology and the senior associate dean for admissions and extramural academic programs at UC San Francisco School of Medicine. 

Drake said that the UC is currently facing significant challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, social injustice and climate change, but added he is grateful to work with people to make a difference.

“The UC is among the few institutions worldwide, best equipped really to meet these challenges,” Drake said. “Perhaps not to solve them and certainly not to solve them single-handedly, but to be fully engaged in finding solutions.”

Janet Napolitano, the outgoing UC president, said that Drake’s appointment is one more step that the university is doing to ensure that the UC reflects the state’s diversity. 

“I was the first woman to be the president of the University of California, and I recognize the significance of these firsts,” Napolitano said. “While I hope that this kind of leadership diversity at our nation’s universities will soon become commonplace, I am humbled and grateful to have been part of this chapter in UC’s history.”

Students have high expectations for Drake to lead a future rooted in social, economic and racial justice, said Aidan Arasasingham, UCLA’s representative on the student advisory committee for the selection of the new UC president, in an emailed statement.

Arasasingham said he was impressed with Drake’s partnership with students to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion while Drake was the UCI chancellor.

“Given the ongoing epidemics of COVID-19, unaffordability and racial injustice in our state, students have high expectations for President Drake to chart a future rooted in social, economic and racial justice,” said Arasasignham, who is a rising fourth-year global studies student and the Undergraduate Student Association Council’s external vice president. “I look forward to working closely with President Drake to make that future a reality for UC.”

Drake will receive an annual base salary of $890,000.

The search process for a new UC president began in September after Napolitano announced she would step down Aug. 1 at the September Board of Regents meeting.

“This is an exceptional and complex institution and leading is both a challenge and a privilege,” Napolitano said. “With Dr. Drake at the helm, I know I would be leaving (the) University in the hands of a seasoned and committed leader. He has my full confidence and I’m excited to see what new ideas and perspectives he will bring to this role.”