The UC system welcomed its two newest chancellors on May 7 — one of them being Linda Katehi, who assumes the leadership of UC Davis on Aug. 17.

After a news conference in San Francisco, Katehi rode with outgoing Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef to Davis for a 1½-day visit that included a dinner with the faculty leadership, a breakfast meeting with the provost, a luncheon with the UC Davis Foundation board and a night at the theater, to see the UC Davis Centennial production of Oklahoma!

UC Davis officially welcomed Katehi during a midday reception May 8 in Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Some 350 people attended the event, while hundreds more watched a live Webcast (Mediaworks reported 322 log-ons). Technicians also beamed the live video to the Activities and Recreation Center, where some 150 people watched while attending the foundation board’s Chancellor’s Laureates luncheon. Later, Katehi joined them for lunch.

Her afternoon schedule also included a visit to the Sacramento campus.

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‘I was impressed by the images I saw, primarily the shots from the control room in Houston. It was then that I decided I wanted to be an electrical engineer.’

— Linda Katehi, the chancellor-designate, recalling when she became interested in science — as a young girl watching the Apollo moon landings on television

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‘Linda Katehi believes in quality, and that was extremely important to me. UC Davis is really in the big leagues as a distinguished American university. It cannot move up even further unless there’s a very clear concept of quality, quality, quality, whether it’s the graduate programs, the interdisciplinary work, the recruitment of the staff, the recruitment of the faculty — at all stages we have to be commited to quality to improve an already great university.’

— Mark G. Yudof, UC president

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‘It was (President Yudof’s) focus on excellence that inspired the search committee.’

— Bob Powell, professor and chair, chemical engineering and materials science; and chair, Academic Senate

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‘She (Linda Katehi) is fully immersed in the public, land-grant mission that is so vital to the character of UC Davis.’

— Russell Gould, incoming chair, Board of Regents

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‘Lots of people, myself included, are very relieved that the university is going to be in the hands of Chancellor-designate Katehi.’

— Larry Vanderhoef, outgoing chancellor

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‘A vibrant future needs a legendary past, and on that note, I would like to thank Chancellor and Mrs. (Rosalie) Vanderhoef for making UC Davis a vibrant place buzzing with intellectual excitement.’

— Linda Katehi

MORE KATEHI COVERAGE

Regents confirm Katehi for UC Davis, Desmond-Hellmann for UCSF.

Video from the regents meeting: chancellorsearch.ucdavis.edu (click on “First impressions”).

Katehi comes to campus: Chancellor-designate mingles with staff, faculty.

Video from the welcome ceremony: chancellorsearch.ucdavis.edu (click on “Katehi's campus welcome”).