Robert Dynes, the newly appointed president-designate of the
University of California and a lifelong physicist, would have at
one time used his knowledge of Newton’s Laws of Motion to
perfect his slap shot rather than to pursue academia.
During a press conference immediately after the UC Board of
Regents announced he would take over the helm of the largest public
research university in the country, Dynes discussed his Canadian
upbringing and his affinity for the hockey rink.
“I was a pretty good hockey player, and I had dreams of
being a professional hockey player,” Dynes said.
The son of a mother who taught nursery school and kindergarten
and a father who worked as a shoe salesman, Dynes said he spent
much of his youth in Southern Ontario playing sports.
“I was more interested in sports than academics,” he
said.
He added that he attended college almost “by
accident” ““ Dynes’ high school teachers convinced
him that his life would be better served if he went to college.
Dynes went on to attend the University of Western Ontario, where
he obtained degrees in mathematics and physics. He then earned
master’s and doctorate degrees in physics from McMaster
University, also in Ontario.
His unanticipated turn to college led to a storied career in
physics, earning awards such as the 1990 Fritz London Award in Low
Temperature Physics, and a 2001 election to the Council of the
National Academy of Sciences.
Dynes continued his laboratory research even while serving as
chancellor of UC San Diego, but said he will give up this pursuit
to focus fully on the presidential post.
“This job is a full-time job,” he said.
Nevertheless, Dynes is likely the only UC president in history
who is as comfortable on the ice with hockey stick in glove as he
is in an office with pen in hand.
“I’d keep all of my teeth as well,” he
said.