The chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, Robert
Berdahl, announced he would be retiring from his position this June
to take a year off from academia and then return to Berkeley as a
professor of history.
Berdahl, who will have served for seven years when he steps
down, laid strong groundwork for the Berkeley community. He
renovated and refurbished numerous campus buildings, brought in
over $1.3 billion in private donations to the university’s
coffers, and raised the prestige of the campus libraries to rank
among the best in the nation.
But many students and faculty of the campus will probably
remember Berdahl for his role as a moderator and a peacemaker,
especially in the tense aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks and in the face of controversial issues in the Middle
East.
In addition to his chancellorship, Berdahl has served as
president of the University of Texas at Austin for four and a half
years and as chairman of the Association of American Universities
for a year.
Calling the time he spent as Berkeley’s chancellor
“the greatest privilege and honor of my life,” Berdahl
praised the people he had worked with during his tenure.
“I believe we have accomplished a great deal and that we
have taken the steps necessary to ensure that this campus is fully
prepared to continue its great tradition of excellence well into
the future,” he said in a statement.
University of California President Richard Atkinson, who also
spoke on behalf of president-elect Robert Dynes, said Berdahl would
be “sorely missed” by the UC community and predicted a
promising future for Berkeley.
“His commitment of substantial resources to undergraduate
education and his unprecedented record of fund raising will bear
fruit for many years to come,” he said in a statement.
One of Berdahl’s principle accomplishments as chancellor
was to boost a beleaguered library system to rank among the highest
in the nation, a goal he set when he first took office in March
1997.
Before Berdahl took office, he heard complaints from faculty
that the campus library system was so underfunded it could not
purchase all the books and materials that Berkeley’s
extensive research programs demanded.
Taking the complaints to heart, Berdahl increased funding to the
library’s budget by $4.6 million over three years, an
increase that made a “tremendous difference,” said
Charles Faulhaber, the head of the Bancroft Library at
Berkeley.
Berdahl also drew praise from members of the Berkeley community
for how he dealt with the terrorist attacks against the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon in 2001, advocating open dialogue and an
atmosphere of tolerance at a time when fundamental American values
were being questioned.
Like UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale, Berdahl decided to keep
his campus open the day of the attacks to provide a place of refuge
for students, faculty and staff, and lead a memorial a week later
in memory of the event.
Student Regent Matt Murray, who is an undergraduate at Berkeley,
praised the way Berdahl had coped with campus tensions surrounding
the Middle East in a post-Sept. 11 world, especially regarding the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I’m impressed with the way he has dealt with the
situation by promoting speakers and classes that explore the issue
from all angles, and promote as much open debate and discussion as
possible,” he said.
Tom Leonard, the university librarian, said Berdahl had also
been a voice of reason and accommodation in dealing with
administrative issues, especially in disputes between different
departments.
“He has a way of showing good will and is a very good
listener, and I think he’s tried very successfully to
accommodate conflicting interests at the university,” he
said.
Berdahl has also helped students and faculty find a greater
voice in the administration, pushing for greater involvement by
university faculty and more autonomy for Berkeley’s graduate
student government, the only graduate student government in the UC
that is not completely autonomous from the undergraduate student
government.
Jessica Quindeo, president of the graduate student government,
said she was encouraged by Berdahl’s support for the student
voice and hoped that she would be able to close a deal with Berdahl
to guarantee graduate student autonomy before he retired.
Quindeo also praised Berdahl’s support for diversity on
campus, saying he had pushed for more dialogue on ethnic and gender
diversity in Berkeley’s Strategic Academic Plan, part of
Berkeley’s development plan that runs up to 2020.
Dynes, who is the current chancellor of UC San Diego and will
become UC president on Oct. 2, will lead the search for a new
Berkeley chancellor with advice from faculty, students and
staff.
Murray said given the worldwide prestige of the Berkeley
community and its reputation for political involvement, the new
chancellor would have big shoes to fill.
“There’s international eyes on the Berkeley campus,
and to deal with that pressure and responsibility will inevitably
always be a challenge for whoever is in charge,” he said.