Hired to replace Robert Dynes in the aftermath of a management meltdown in which UC administrators flouted, circumvented and violated university policies governing pay and perks, the 63-year-old [Mark] Yudof knows his mission when he officially takes over next month.”I’ve really got to get the trains running on time (at UC). There are a lot of things I believe in, like global initiatives and dealing with the deferred maintenance on campus and being absolutely competitive for faculty,” he said in a recent interview in the East Bay. “But I’ve got to get the platform right. I’ve got to regain the trust of Californians and the Board of Regents. I’ve got to get our (number of employees) down and our budgets down. Then we can start talking about what else we want to do.”…
He recognizes that many problems are entrenched at UC. But that won’t deter him.
“There is a saying, ‘A crisis is a terrible thing to waste,’ and that is my view,” he said. “And my view is that some things we probably should have done 10 years, five years, 20 years ago may get done when you have a crisis.”
— Tanya Schevitz, San Francisco Chronicle in Next UC president – homey image, hefty mission, Thursday, May 8, 2008
