According to West Coast papers this morning, UT System Chancellor Mark Yudof is a shoe-in for the top post at the University of California system. I first heard this on the LA Times yesterday; the San Francisco Chronicle reported again this morning:
University of Texas Chancellor Mark Yudof, virtually assured of becoming the next president of the prestigious University of California system, is no stranger to the rough-and-tumble world of education politics he’s likely to experience there. As head of the largest public university system in Texas, and before that in Minnesota, he’s sparred with the likes of Jesse Ventura over budgets, has struggled to increase ethnic diversity and has been a champion of accountability.
Yudof, 63, was the unanimous choice Thursday of a committee charged with recommending who the next president of the 10-campus system should be. Yudof is expected to be officially appointed by the UC Board of Regents on March 27…
I met Chancellor Yudof a few times as part of my service on the UT System Employee Advisory Council; he impressed me as a good guy, a straight shooter and someone genuinely interested in the employees of our UT universities. California’s gain will be our loss, but there are many other good leaders in the ranks, and the UT System Board of Regents (who will be charged with finding Yudof’s replacement) are an impressive and extremely capable collection of people. We’re in good hands.