The Mercury News

Reich may be next chancellor at Cal

Public policy professor is former secretary of labor

- By Jason Green jason.green@bayareanew­sgroup.com Reich Staff writer Katy Murphy contribute­d to this report. Contact Jason Green at 408-920-5006.

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.

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