University of California President Robert Dynes announced his resignation today, after a four-year tenure marked by such issues as diversity, enrollment and the executive compensation scandal.
In the interim, Provost and Executive Vice President Rory Hume, who according to the Los Angeles Times is a leading candidate for Dynes’ replacement, will take on the responsibility of chief operating officer of the UC, managing the day-to-day operation of the university.
Dynes will formally leave office in June 2008, retaining his title during the coming academic year and working on select projects throughout the university, including student and faculty diversity and advancing research.
Dynes, who was a faculty member and then chancellor of UC San Diego, was appointed UC president in 2003.
He led the university through several trying years as the executive compensation scandal made national headlines prompting several members of the state legislature to call for his resignation.
The UC has also faced crises in admissions and funding throughout his tenure, including a dwindling state budget and, at one point, nearly violating the Higher Education Compact because the system could not admit the required top 10 percent of high school students in the state.
But throughout the years the UC Board of Regents has stood behind Dynes and it continues to support his leadership.
"It has been a distinct privilege to know and work with Robert Dynes," said Regents Chairman Richard Blum in a statement. "During his time of leadership, the UC community has continued the journey to an even better university.”
UC spokesman Brad Hayward said a search committee should be appointed within several weeks and that searches typically take several months or even as long as a year to complete.
Dynes said in a statement that he his stepping down partially to spend more time on developing his research and to spend more time with his new wife.
"I depart knowing that the university, at its core, remains strong. And that is because of the dedication, hard work and vision of its faculty, staff and students,” Dynes said in a statement.
He will be returning to a faculty position at UC San Diego next year, where he will continue his research into superconductivity at a lab he manages.