University of California President Mark G. Yudof will step down from his position at the end of August, he announced Friday in a UC press release.
Yudof cited “taxing health issues” and a desire to “make a change in (his) professional lifestyle” as reasons for ending his tenure with the UC. He will return to his post as a law professor at UC Berkeley, he said in the release.
“While the decision is my own, the moment comes with a mixture of emotions,” Yudof said in the statement.
Since his appointment as UC president in 2008, Yudof has made an annual salary of $591,084.
The University faced millions of dollars in state budget cuts under his leadership. To cover the budget gap, Yudof encouraged several tuition hikes that took effect, prompting criticism from the UC student body.
The increases also prompted protests at UC Board of Regents meetings, where he is an ex-officio regent.
During his term, he expanded financial aid for students. Under the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, which Yudof started in 2009, California resident students with families earning less than $80,000 annually can have their “educational and student service” fees covered, according to the plan’s website.
He also created Project You Can in 2009, which aims to raise $1 billion over four years to help support undergraduate student scholarships at the UC, and has raised $671 million so far.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block also issued a statement on Friday, in response to Yudof’s announcement.
“President Yudof successfully steered the University of California through one of the most difficult fiscal periods in the system’s history,” Block said in the statement. “UCLA is grateful for his leadership and we wish President Yudof the very best as he begins a new chapter in his career.”
The UC statement does not indicate who will assume Yudof’s position on Aug. 31 of this year, when he formally steps down.
According to the regents’ website, a vacancy of the UC president position is filled through a search committee appointed by the Chairman of the Board.
The UC has not yet announced any plans for the search committee.
By completing five years in his position, Yudof can add $230,000 a year on top of his pension, which he can collect after he retires from the UC, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Yudof said he looks forward to working with state leaders in coming months to leave the University in a good state before he ends his tenure.
“When I arrived in 2008, the economy had begun to unravel and … with its budget slashed, the University was presented with one of the most severe challenges in its history,” he said in the statement. “Now, it appears the storm has been weathered. We are not fully in the clear, but we are much closer than we were even a few months ago.”
Compiled by Katherine Hafner, Bruin senior staff.