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The legacy of a giant in higher education

BY DAVID SAXON

The passing of Clark Kerr on Dec. 1 at age 92 was perhaps of little significance to the majority of today’s UCLA faculty, staff and student body. The descriptions of Clark may seem remote: the first chancellor of UC Berkeley, and subsequently president of the University of California before unceremoniously being fired by the Board of Regents in January 1967. But let the record be clear: Clark Kerr was the most significant leader in U.S. higher education in the 20th century.

I had the honor of leading the University of California as its president for eight years, beginning in 1975. As president, I gained a full appreciation of the challenges that Clark faced as the leader of the university as well as his unparalleled accomplishments.

During my UCLA faculty career in the 1950s and ’60s, I had admired Clark from afar as he led the development of the California Master Plan for Higher Education in 1959 and in the process hired a 28-year-old to assist him, the same man who nine years later would become chancellor of UCLA: Charles Young. I saw Clark’s leadership in establishing three new UC campuses (Irvine, San Diego, Santa Cruz), moving them from concept to reality within an amazingly short six years.

Clark’s legacy is the California Master Plan, which harmoniously combined quality and access. It is tragic that today’s Legislature is contemplating modification of the tenets of that Master Plan after nearly 45 years. The reality is that the California economic engine depends on the most advanced higher education system in the world. In the 1950s, public universities that were developing around the country relied on the traditional “flagship” model, with smaller “satellite” campuses. Clark’s vision rejected this model for California. He proposed — courageously — that enrollment be limited at UC Berkeley and at UCLA. Furthermore, he insisted that the new campuses being developed in the UC system not be merely smaller “satellite” campuses but, instead, full campuses in their own right. The strength of the UC system was born from Clark’s vision. Today, six UC campuses (Berkeley, Los Angeles, Irvine, Davis, Santa Barbara and San Diego) are members of the 63-member Association of American Universities (AAU). No other public university system in the United States has more than one campus in the AAU, the self-designated group of the most prestigious research institutions.

His greatness can be appreciated by looking beyond the borders of California and seeing the limitations of the university systems of other states. While many states have excellent flagship campuses of 45,000 to 60,000 students, their overall strength falls short in comparison to the strength of the UC system. Today’s UC leadership, as well as the state’s leaders in Sacramento — old and new — must not forsake Clark Kerr’s legacy.

Saxon, professor emeritus in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, joined the UCLA faculty in 1947. He served as the 14th president of the University of California from 1975-1983.