Reich may be next chancellor at Cal
Public policy professor is former secretary of labor
BERKELEY — Robert Reich, a public policy professor at UC Berkeley and former secretary of labor, is being floated as a successor to outgoing Chancellor Nicholas Dirks by the Berkeley Faculty Association.
The association, which advocates for faculty interests, made the suggestion in a post on its website Tuesday.
Reich, who served in the Clinton administration and now teaches at the Goldman School, is a “distinguished public intellectual and commentator”; a best-selling author of books on economy, politics and education; the inspiration for the film “Inequality for All”; and a “firm believer in public education and the public interest,” according to the post.
Dirks announced his resignation in August. The 3-year-long tenure of the university’s 10th chancellor was marred by a sexual harassment scandal that cost him the trust of his faculty. He also drew criticism for his handling of a $150 million deficit and was most recently the subject of a probe into his and his wife’s free use of a campus personal trainer.
The post listed 10 ways the new chancellor can “demonstrate his commitment” to Berkeley including making high-quality teaching and research in the public interest the highest priority, implementing a salary cap on all senior administrators and placing a moratorium on nonacademic capital projects like the renovation of Memorial Stadium.
The association also called for an open selection process that would see the shortlist of candidates publicly discussed, bring would-be chancellors to the campus for presentations and questions from the community, and involve input from the Academic Senate.