UC President Robert Dynes — a first-generation college graduate and renowned physicist — announced Monday his intention to step down as president by June 2008.

Dynes, who started his job in October 2003, will leave at the nearly five-year mark he had initially set for himself for serving as head of the 10-campus UC system. At 64 he said, he wishes to focus on his personal life, including a new marriage and his continuing research into superconductivity.

Wyatt Hume, UC provost and executive vice president, will act as the UC's chief operating officer. Hume's appointment is effective immediately and will continue until the UC Board of Regents names a new president after it conducts a national search. Regents Chairman Richard Blum is soon expected to announce the formation of a search committee. Meanwhile, university leaders are taking stock of Dynes' tenure.

"During his time of leadership, the UC community has continued the journey to an even better university," Blum said. "Initiatives have been launched to begin addressing critical problems in the areas of diversity, K-12 educational disparity and salary gaps. And we have laid the groundwork for the restructuring of the university's administrative infrastructure to create a more effective and efficient organization."

Dynes will spend his last months in office visiting campuses and California communities, helping to facilitate continuing conversations about how the university can best help to meet the long-term needs and challenges of California.

"I depart knowing that the university, at its core, remains strong," said Dynes. "And that is because of the dedication, hard work and vision of its faculty, staff and students. They represent the foundation on which this great university has been built, and for that I express my heartfelt thanks to our entire community.

Dynes also thanked the regents and his leadership team. "They will provide UC with a strong and stable transition to a new president," he noted.

After taking office as the UC's 18th president during California's tumultuous 2003 gubernatorial recall campaign and a period of steep budget decline, Dynes experienced a presidency that he described in a letter sent to the regents as "filled both with successes achieved and difficult challenges addressed and overcome."

During Dynes' presidency, the university stabilized state funding under a budget compact reached early in his presidency with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In addition, it swept three Department of Energy national laboratory management competitions, two of them as part of an innovative public and private partnership.

UC also built stronger ties with industry, with a focus as much on the delivery of benefits to society as on research and development; opened the nation's first new research university in a generation at UC Merced; and launched a K-12 science and math initiative designed to ensure that future U.S. workers have the science literacy needed to keep America competitive.

Under Dynes, the university also improved long-range planning for the university to better align its mission to the needs of California. Dynes appointed a guidance team of regents, chancellors, faculty and others to explore UC's role in California's future. The long-range planning process continues, with an initial focus on academic and financial planning.

Compensation, faculty diversity

Among the university's challenges under Dynes was public scrutiny of UC's executive compensation disclosure and reporting practices. In response, the regents and administration introduced several critical reforms that have led to UC becoming a national leader in transparency and accountability. At the same time, Dynes consistently defended the need to maintain the institution's excellence by retaining the highest-quality faculty, administrators and staff — and to compensate them accordingly.

The university also faced the challenge of increasing ethnic and gender diversity. While Dynes expressed pride that he made strides among the university's senior administration and helped lead the way for a more diverse faculty, student body and staff, he remained dissatisfied. "I consider this an area that should be of utmost importance to my successor and the overall leadership of the UC," he said.

He joined UC in 1990 as a professor of physics at UC San Diego, following a 22-year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where he served as department head of semiconductor and material physics research and director of chemical physics research. In 1996 he was named chancellor of UC San Diego.

Dynes continues to be an active scientist and a member of the physics department at UC Berkeley, where he directs a laboratory that focuses on superconductivity and incorporates postdoctoral and graduate students in physics and materials science as well as undergraduates.

Dynes' presidency occurred during a time of significant transition in UC leadership. During his tenure, he appointed six new chancellors (searches for two others remain under way), three new laboratory directors, a new executive vice president for business operations, a new general counsel and numerous vice presidents.

He also appointed Hume as provost. Hume, a former executive vice chancellor at UCLA who also served as president of the University of South Wales in his native Australia, will now assume responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the university's day-to-day operations.

Blum endorsed the Hume appointment as UC's chief operating officer. "This will allow Bob to focus his attention on further strengthening the university's position as the state and nation's premier higher education research partner," he said. "As chairman, I look forward to working closely with Provost Hume in continuing the restructuring work that has begun."

Hume is married with two children and two grandchildren. He represented Adelaide University in both rugby football and rowing, was a member of the Australian eight-oared crew in 1970, and served for many years in the Australian Army Reserve.

This article is based on a news release from the UC Office of the President and information from its Web site. To listen to Dynes comment on his resignation, see universityofcalifornia.edu/dynes/videoletter.html. To learn more about Hume, see ucop.edu/acadaff/wrhbio.html.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Three UC Davis professors, all leaders in the Academic Senate at either the campus or system level, commented on President Dynes' announced resignation:

Linda Bisson, UC Davis senate chair, 2006-present; professor of viticulture and enology — "The executive compensation issues were clearly a key factor, but these policies (or lack of adhering to them) predated President




Dynes. He was in the unfortunate situation of being damned if he micromanaged the Office of the President and damned if he didn't."

Dan Simmons, UC Davis senate chair, 1991-93 and 2004-06, professor of law — "Bob Dynes has had a difficult presidency. He was immediately consumed with maintaining UC's role in managing the national weapons laboratories. … He was also faced with an unprecedented need to replace senior leadership, which perhaps resulted in some misplaced focus on high executive compensation and perquisites. Nonetheless, Bob Dynes emerged with the support of the regents and the faculty senate, no small accomplishment."

John Oakley, systemwide senate chair, 2006-present; professor of law — "President Dynes has been quite responsive to the faculty's role in shared governance. … UC Davis has bloomed as part of the UC system under Dynes, in particular because the campus has been willing and able to grow in order to accommodate more students. Dynes has been able to fund the capacity the system needs to meet its master plan commitments."

— Dave Jones