BY MARINA DUNDJERSKI
UCLA Today Staff
Robert C. Dynes, selected as the new University
of California president by the Board of Regents on June 11,
pledged to propel the university along the path of scientific
discovery and public service, while preserving the quality of
its education even in times of financial duress.
Dynes — chancellor of UC San Diego since
1996, a distinguished physicist and first-generation college
graduate — will be UC’s 18th president. Selected
from a pool of more than 300 candidates, Dynes succeeds Richard
C. Atkinson, who is retiring Oct. 1 after holding the post for
eight years. Atkinson was also chancellor of UC San Diego.
“Bob Dynes is a superb choice for the
presidency of the university system,” said Chancellor
Albert Carnesale. “A top-notch scientist and administrator,
he has done an outstanding job as chancellor of UCSD. We are
fortunate to have him bringing his great skills to bear on leading
the UC system as it confronts the dual challenge of increasing
enrollment and declining state funding.”
The low-key Dynes, 60, is an expert on semiconductors
and superconductors and spent 22 years at AT&T Bell Laboratories
before joining UC San Diego in 1991 as a professor of physics.
Dynes said he turned to academe after realizing “that
the locus of American innovation was shifting from industry
to the academy.
“I wanted to move with it, and I wanted
to be part of the best university in the world in an environment
that fostered innovation and collaboration,” Dynes said.
UC’s research mission has changed dramatically
in just the past few years, Dynes said, noting that Sept. 11
moved the nation from a research-and-development epoch to an
era of research, development and delivery. “We must move
discoveries from the bench to the public domain more effectively,”
he said. “And we must hand them off more quickly to end-users,
whether they are first-responders in a crisis, farmers, health-care
professionals, social workers or teachers.”
To that end, Dynes — a councilor of the
National Academy of Sciences — has been hailed as a strong
advocate for fostering the open exchange of ideas and advancing
scientific discoveries, while simultaneously preserving a university’s
integrity.
UCLA Professor Emeritus of Economics Werner
Hirsch — who along with Dynes is a member of the California
Colloquium, an informal group of 15 who meet for a day every
couple of months to discuss and tackle challenges within California’s
higher education system — said Dynes has the highest standards
for keeping conflicts of interest at bay.
“He knows the industry, but at the same
time, he has the right values,” Hirsch said. “He
is very much concerned about a university acting as a role model
for society, as a major force for advances in education, research
and public service, while keeping in mind that this institution
has to be safeguarded.”
And Dynes does not shirk off trying to find
the answers to difficult issues, Hirsch said. “He is very
personable, yet asks the most penetrating questions,”
said the economist. “And he doesn’t get off them
until we have discussed them in great detail, even if it’s
hard to find a solution.”
Indeed, tough challenges lie ahead. Dynes will
be taking the helm during a difficult time as UC grapples with
a spiraling student enrollment as well as significant funding
cuts from a state reeling from fiscal crisis.
“These same pressures are being felt
by other universities in other states,” Dynes said. “There
is a consensus that American public universities must redefine
how they deliver quality higher education. And the rest of the
country is looking to the University of California to lead the
way.”
