This concise book tells the absorbing story of the development of one of the greatest public institutions in the country. Beginning with the land grant that established a university in California, the accessible narrative takes the reader through the difficulties and triumphs of the institution as it rose to the peak of scientific and scholarly stature, where it stands today. Included is a discussion of why the University of California is unique among institutions of higher learning, a chronicle of past university presidents and the particular contributions each made to the institution, an account of the university's benefactors and financial arrangements, and the development of the multicampus model. This book also covers pivotal moments in the university's history, such as the formulation of the Master Plan for Higher Education, the controversy over the Loyalty Oath, the Free Speech Movement, Clark Kerr's dismissal, the implementation of Proposition 13, and the struggle over affirmative action. The author includes a description of each campus and a wealth of historical photographs that document the rise of the university and the people involved in its evolution.

A Brief History of the University of California

History

Cheney, Margaret

Pelfrey, Patricia A.

Americas

University of California Press

Richard C. Atkinson’s eight-year tenure as president of the University of California (1995–2003) reflected the major issues facing California itself: the state’s emergence as the world’s leading knowledge-based economy and the rapidly expanding size and diversity of its population. As this selection of President Atkinson’s speeches and papers reveals, his administration was marked by innovative approaches that deliberately shaped U.C.’s role in this changing California. These writings tell the story of the national controversy over the SAT and Atkinson’s successful challenge to the dominance of the seventy-five-year-old college entrance examination. They also highlight other issues with national significance: U.C.’s experiments with race-neutral admissions programs; the challenges facing academic libraries and the University’s pioneering activities with the California Digital Library; and the University’s involvement in new paradigms of industry-university research. Together, these speeches and papers open a window on an eventful period in the history of the nation’s leading public research university and the history of American higher education.

The Pursuit of Knowledge: Speeches and Papers of Richard C. Atkinson

Saxon, David S.

Atkinson, Richard C. C.

Richard C. Atkinson was named president of the University of California in August 1995, barely four weeks after the UC Regents voted to end affirmative action. How he dealt with the admissions wars―the political, legal, and academic consequences of that historic and controversial decision, as well as the issue of governance―is discussed in this book. Another focus is the entrepreneurial university―the expansion of the University’s research enterprise into new forms of scientific research with industry during Atkinson’s presidency. The final crisis of his administration was the prolonged controversy over the University’s management of the Los Alamos and Livermore nuclear weapons research laboratories that began with the arrest of Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee on charges of espionage in 1999. Entrepreneurial President explains what was at stake during each of these episodes, how Atkinson addressed the issues, and why the outcomes matter to the University and to the people of California. Pelfrey’s book provides an analysis of the challenges, perils, and limits of presidential leadership in the nation’s leading public university, while bringing a historical perspective to bear on the current serious threats to its future as a university.

Entrepreneurial President: Richard Atkinson and the University of California, 1995–2003

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

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Books by Pelfrey, Patricia A.