Robert Birgeneau

UC Regents Select New Cal Chancellor

Canadian known for backing diversity; salary criticized 

CHARLES BURRESS & CARRIE STURROCK / San Francisco Chronicle 28jul2004

UC Berkeley's newly named chancellor — a tall, lanky, gray-haired Canadian physicist — greeted his new job Tuesday almost like a kid who's just inherited a candy shop. [Mindfully.org note: That's because he is a kid and he has just inherited a candy shop. He's not just any ordinary kid though — he's got a monkey on his back . . power and money, just like the rest of the kids playing as regents.]

With sparkling eyes and a beaming smile, 62-year-old Robert Birgeneau, the current University of Toronto president, appeared as if there was no place else he'd rather be as he spoke to reporters on campus right after the UC regents, as expected, picked him to take over the Berkeley helm from the outgoing Robert Berdahl.

"I genuinely believe that the University of California at Berkeley is simply the very best public teaching and research university in the world," said Birgeneau, who sported a blue Cal tie and Golden Bear lapel pin. He will take over Oct. 1 or thereabouts, UC said.

Birgeneau's reputation, particularly his strong support for diversity, seems to have won him optimistic if cautious expectations from a campus that has seen enrollment decline among underrepresented minorities.

UC President Robert Dynes, a fellow physicist and Canadian native who recommended Dynes to the regents after an extensive search process by a committee, praised Birgeneau as "an internationally acclaimed, deeply compassionate individual."

Birgeneau, who still does research and publishes as a highly regarded physicist while also serving as the top administrator of Canada's largest university, spoke of his own "unusually modest" childhood in Toronto, being the first in his family to complete high school and working in a factory at age 15.

"I hope that we manage to maintain an environment here at Berkeley where no kid being born right now in the state of California will not have full and equal access," he said to applause.

Before the news conference in public comments to the regents, UC Berkeley student Linda Salina said she was discouraged by cuts in outreach programs for minorities and by proposals to raise admission standards. "However," she said, "I am optimistic about Mr. Birgeneau's proven commitment to diversity."

But signs of troubles ahead also emerged amid the admiration and rousing fanfare from the Cal Marching Band.

The UC clerical employees union issued a statement criticizing the "bloated salary" for Birgeneau "while employees fight for living wage."

The regents voted 11-1 to pay Birgeneau a base salary of $390,000 a year, up from the $315,600 Berdahl received. He also will receive a special boost in retirement benefits, a $97,500 moving allowance and the free house provided to the chancellor.

"This is immoral," said UC library employee Norah Foster, who wore a "Recall the Regents" T-shirt. She said student fees have increased 30 percent while library assistants are paid 33 percent less than other people in comparable jobs in the state.

Dynes said Birgeneau's salary is "pretty much almost exactly what he's receiving" at Toronto after converting Canadian dollars and considering the higher Bay Area cost of living. According to University of Toronto officials, Birgeneau earned $398,000 in Canadian dollars (about $299,000 U.S.) in paid salary, plus $29,000 (about $22,000 U.S.) in taxable benefits at Toronto last year.

As for the boost over Berdahl's salary, Dynes said, "We live in a very competitive market, and in order to recruit the very best we have to go out and at least meet what they were earning."

Reactions in Toronto on Tuesday over the loss of the university president in the fourth year of his seven-year term seemed mixed.

An organization of part-time students issued a statement saying Birgeneau's early departure sends a distressing message and called on him to stay.

Others were resigned.

"When you lose a close colleague, you don't feel good about it," acknowledged Jon Dellandrea, vice president and chief advancement officer of the University of Toronto. "You have to take the bigger long-term view and say 'life goes on.' "

"This is a guy with very high aspirations, and in my experience that's what people respond to," Dellandrea said, referring to the record-breaking fund-raising campaign completed by Birgeneau, who'll be on familiar ground with California's budget crises. Government support for the University of Toronto has declined by nearly 30 percent in the past 10 years.

Colleagues also noted his commitment to diversity and issues of equity and fairness. Before going to Toronto, he was science dean at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he spearheaded support for female faculty who complained of discrimination.

His work on faculty diversity at Toronto coincided with tremendous growth of the university, which now has 69,900 students.

In addition, he has been "the odd man out" on taking a stand against purely merit-based scholarships, Dellandrea said.

Toronto Provost Vivek Goel said: "We've moved ahead of a lot of other institutions in terms of focusing financial aid on the students who need it the most in order to guarantee accessibility."

Back at Berkeley, newly minted UC grad Jason Bishop echoed a widespread view: "He seems very enthusiastic, but I don't know a lot about him so I'm not going to be quick to judge."

E-mail the writers at cburress@sfchronicle.com and csturrock@sfchronicle.com

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source: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/07/28/BAG357U2TJ1.DTL16apr2005