Cal Neighbors

Cal Neighbors Masthead

A Newsletter for the Neighbors of the University of California, Berkeley

Fall 2004

	Chancellor relishes Berkeley, keeps an ear tuned to advice
	Collaborating on community
	Review of campus LRDP postponed
	A whole lot to say, and just the place to say it
	Campus employees get on the bus
	Under Construction
	Community Bulletin Board
	Cal's sports wow fans, with more to come
	Upcoming Events on Campus

Chancellor relishes Berkeley, keeps an ear tuned to advice

Robert Birgeneau’s new hometown advises him to enjoy Berkeley, fight the good fight, and keep a sense of humor

Chancellor Robert Birgeneau

A message to campus neighbors

It is an honor and a pleasure for me to begin my work as the ninth chancellor of UC Berkeley. During my career as a research scientist, teacher, and administrator, I have frequently called Berkeley the finest public university on the continent. Leading this institution is a challenge I relish. Please know that, in all the tasks we undertake together, I will look to staff, students, faculty, and the broader community for advice and counsel.

I have certainly received no small amount of advice in the weeks since my appointment was announced in the beautiful setting of Doe Library. The outpouring of congratulations I have received from the campus and community — including a gracious welcome from Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates — has been wonderfully gratifying. As one might have expected, very few such messages have come in without a word or two of advice about what I need to do and when I need to

do it! I was fully aware that Berkeley folk are not shy about sharing their ideas, and it has been instructive to see just how true that adage is. Needless to say, I am enormously grateful for it. Particularly for someone new to Berkeley, a steady flow of information, counsel, and opinion is invaluable.

Berkeley — the university and the city — is a beautiful and exciting place. My wife, Mary Catherine, and I are looking forward to becoming a familiar part of this wonderful community.

With warmest regards,

Robert J. Birgeneau, Chancellor

Expressing delight in both his new job and new community, Robert J. Birgeneau started work on September 22 as UC Berkeley’s ninth chancellor. He says he has been an avowed fan of UC Berkeley for years, admiring the campus’s academic achievements and commitment to improving society.

“Universities like Berkeley, which are pre-eminent in so many fields, have an edge over the rest in solving the world’s problems,” he noted.

Enthusiastic about his new home, Birgeneau has repeatedly said that Berkeley is “a beautiful and exciting” place to live. The Birgeneaus have moved into University House, the campus residence for the chancellor.

The former president of the University of Toronto, the largest public university in Canada, Birgeneau replaces Robert Berdahl, who stepped down after seven years at the helm of the Berkeley campus.

An internationally noted physicist, Birgeneau was dean of the School of Science at the Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology, where he spent 25 years on the faculty before taking the helm at Toronto in 2000.

The local community extended a warm welcome to the new chancellor, who has declared that he is glad to have advice from the campus and community.

“From tutoring elementary school students to technical advice on seismic hazards, UC faculty, staff, and students have a long history of working collaboratively in the Berkeley community,” said Mayor Tom Bates in welcoming the new chancellor. “I greatly appreciate those efforts and look forward to working closely with Mr. Birgeneau to further that collaboration on the many important issues before us, including the Long Range Development Plan and the proposed hotel, conference center, and museum project in downtown Berkeley.”

Other community members were generous with good advice for Birgeneau when approached by Cal Neighbors.

“He is becoming a member of one of the most dynamic, exciting, and exhausting cities in America,” said Susan Medak, managing director of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. “[I’d advise him to] take full advantage of the extended community. Step beyond the borders of the campus frequently. And maintain a healthy sense of humor.”

City Councilmember Kriss Worthing-ton offered his recipe for success: “Listen seriously to students, work well with neighborhoods, fight fiercely for funding, be fair to unions, and Berkeley will love you.”

Andy Ross, owner of Cody’s Books, gave Birgeneau some perspective as a long-time campus neighbor: “Try to get the students to rediscover the joy of reading,” he advised. “I have noticed that during the last 25 years, UC students are no longer reading as much or with as much enthusiasm and pleasure. I don’t know whether students are picking up more information from the Internet or whether they are abandoning the printed word for other forms of media. I do know that for information and for leisure, the book is still a class act.”

Local resident and journalism dean Orville Schell summed up, “I hope the new chancellor comes in with both guns blazing, recognizing that leadership is always in short supply … and that while academic excellence is always the first priority, the university’s relationship with and obligations to the outside world should never be forgotten.”

For complete information on Berkeley’s new chancellor, see www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/07/27_chancellor.shtml

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