New Chancellor

Blog of the Days' Events as Chancellor-Designate Timothy White Comes to UCR

We follow UCR's new leader, Timothy P. White, through his first days as chancellor-designate.

Friday's Notes

Friday, 6 p.m. and into the evening.
A dozen university and community leaders lingered over dinner for three hours at a restaurant, enjoying a lively conversation with Tim and Karen White. One of the most amusing moments, an innocent enough question from Tim White after a day of 102 degree heat: "Will it be cooler in late August?" Everyone just laughed.

5:00 p.m.
After accompanying Tim White to the new Press-Enterprise building in downtown Riverside, Marcia McQuern reports that White had a wide-ranging conversation with the newspaper's editorial board.

After a break, Chancellor-designate White will prepare for a dinner tonight with a small group of community leaders. "He is really earning a lot of goodwill," McQuern said. "I have been very impressed."

4:00 p.m.
An anecdote from Caitlin Smith, editor of The Highlander, who was one of the students meeting with Tim White at 10:45 a.m. Thursday.

She said he seemed genuinely interested in what the students had to say. "He asked real questions about the issues that students brought up, and seemed to find the common threads in what people had to say."

3:45 p.m.
An observation from Kyle Hoffman just before Thursday's campus forum.

Tim White, behind the scenes, was getting ready for the welcome event at 4 p.m. As he walked over to look at the stage, he spotted a student, working as a backstage manager, just reading a book. "Dr. White went over and asked what she was reading and introduced himself. I think it really demonstrated very early on his interest in the students."

1:00 p.m.
The Chancellor's Leadership Council, made up of the top campus brass, met with Tim White in the Johnson Board Room of the Alumni and Visitors Center. White returned to a theme he had espoused throughout the day, asking his key advisors to "speak truth."

Discussion touched on the budget, support for faculty research, enrollment growth, and student recruitment and retention. White asked about campus safety and emergency preparedness, and was told about the emergency notification system and the number of students who had already signed up. He asked about the relationship with the UC Office of the President and was told that people are excited about the new leadership of UC President-designate Mark Yudof.

White gave a hint of his own leadership style. "There is a time to be deliberative and a time to take action," he said.

12:00 noon
Tim White spent lunch with members of the Foundation Board of Trustees and representatives of the UCR Alumni Board in the Alumni and Visitors Center.

Kyle Hoffman, associate vice chancellor for alumni and constituent relations, said the conversation over lunch was very comfortable. About 25 people were in the room, with UCR graduating classes ranging from the '50s to the '90s. "We saw his sense of humor as we told him stories about UCR's early football teams.

"We kept him talking so much that he couldn't eat his lunch and the food service people tried to take it, and he had to wrestle it back."

"Everybody left feeling very impressed with our new campus leader."

11:00 a.m.
As student leaders were coming together for a meeting with Chancellor-designate White, he took a moment to try out a skateboard belonging to student Richard Kuo of the Residence Hall Association. White opened his meeting with students by looking around the table at each of them and saying "I'm doing this because of you guys." He also expressed his belief that "UCR is here to help students individually, and in doing so it also helps society."

Students in the meeting had time to voice hopes and concerns for the campus and the role that White will play when he begins his tenure at UCR. Foremost on their list, they would like to feel that their chancellor is accessible and receptive to their concerns. White talked about how he enjoys walks through campus during lunch hours and in between meetings as that gives him an opportunity to meet students informally. He looks forward to doing the same thing at UCR. He also described the high level of enthusiasm and involvement that his wife Karen looks forward to bringing to UCR. Of his four year-old son Logan, White said "He will be the littlest Highlander with the most energy."

White listened intently as students also voiced concerns about increasing student engagement and opportunities to get involved, parking challenges on campus, the availability of daycare, residence hall life and access to services such as health care.

Students described some of the reasons they chose to come to UCR. Toward the end of the meeting, White described some of his experience as an immigrant and first generation college graduate. He said "I am the first in my family to go to college and I will be the last to leave." (Photo by Peter Phun)

10:57 a.m.
Tim White received a whirlwind tour of his future quarters on the fourth floor of Hinderaker Hall, with a chance to say hello to the staff in his office who will be working most closely with him.

A note from "the Jessicas", Jessica Darin and Jessica Kump in the Chancellor's Office, regarding White's meeting with his new staff:
Chancellor-Designate White met with his new office staff at 10:15 a.m. He explained his philosophy: open lines of communication and honesty are of the utmost importance. He said he values focus, equality, integrity and a little bit of fun in his day-to-day operations. The Jessica's concluded the note by saying "While we do not love him as much as Chancellor Grey (yet), we are definitely smitten."

The Press Enterprise led with the story on Dr. White's appointment. Read more

10:18 a.m.
Chancellor-designate White has concluded a meeting with the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate. Shared governance was a major issue of discussion. White said he prefers to think of it as "shared leadership," since the term "governance" carries a regulatory or compliance connotation. He said that shared leadership allows decisions be as informed as they can be, and also means there is shared ownership of issues. (From left, Presidential Chair in Biochemistry-Emeritus Tony Norman, Associate Professor of Physics Ward Beyermann, and Chancellor-designate Timothy White. Photo by Peter Phun.)

9:50 a.m.
More observations from Thursday night's events have come in this morning.

Last night Chancellor-designate White spent time at a reception in the courtyard outside the University Theatre greeting those who attended. Acting Chancellor Bob Grey walked with him to the Alumni and Visitors Center to meet with guests including Riverside's Mayor Ron Loveridge and members of the UCR foundation. During a brief program, UCR Alumni Association President Jack Clarke presented White with a UCR sweatshirt that he held up to see if it would fit. Karen White had a chance to speak, and said she is eager to find a way to be engaged in the community.

7:30 a.m.
After spending his first night in Riverside, Chancellor-designate White began his day with a breakfast meeting with Acting Chancellor Grey, and conversation about opportunities and challenges ahead.

Thursday's Notes

6:18 p.m.
Chancellor-designate White said that he has had many warm welcomes today ("and then I came inside.") But now he is inside the air-conditioned Alumni and Visitors Center, with a cool drink, excellent food, and the leadership of the campus, invited guests and friends of the campus. After that he will end his very long day with a dinner with an even smaller group of campus leadership, before returning to his hotel. Tomorrow looks similar, a very long day of meeting and greeting and fielding questions about the future of the campus.

"Academic excellence is achieved through the richness of a diverse faculty, staff, student body and surrounding communities. There are enormous opportunities at UCR, really stunning," White said. "The momentum is enormous."

5:00 p.m.
Following his prepared remarks, Chancellor-designate White responded to questions from the near-capacity crowd at the University Theatre. Here are some of the highlights from the Q&A.

• Medical school — White said the school of medicine will be a magnet, adding that UCR has an opportunity to think differently and to populate the faculty with ethicists, anthropologists and others who will have great community impact.
• Budget challenges — "We need to live within our means," White said, adding that setting priorities will be a participatory process. "We'll work on it together and we'll be fine."
• Connecting with alumni, Division I athletics — Athletics is a window to the university, he said. "For some people it will be the thing (alumni) stay connected with. We also have to be competitive. That doesn't mean winning all the time, but it's also not losing all the time." He added that it's important to give student athletes a chance to succeed, and to maintain a program of integrity.
• Connecting with students — White said he enjoys walking through departments and labs unannounced, and has organized visits with students and invited them into his home. It's important to acknowledge issues that are important to students and work to solve those issues together. "At the end of the day, I was you," he told a graduate student. (Photo by Peter Phun)

4:12 p.m.
Chancellor -designate Tim White addressed the audience. He also thanked Interim Chancellor Grey for his service to UCR. He spoke about his wife and her career, describing her as a "wonderful wife and wonderful first lady for the university and wonderful mother" to their children, their "great set of boys." He then gave a summary of the important transitions in his own career.

He said he had high expectations for academic excellence at UCR and emphasized that it is important that the university create leaders. "The world needs leaders. Leadership is a big part of what we do." He added that he is a believer in trying to lower the walls of administrative units to come together. "‘Multidisciplinary' is something I will ask people to think about."

He said UCR will be the next great UC campus. "It will be a campus of choice. Students will want to come here. Faculty will want to come here. We will be an AAU campus. We will have a high impact locally and nationally. And we will be working together to find solutions."

UCR's rich diversity was extremely attractive to him and his wife, he said. Before taking questions from the audience, he introduced his wife, Karen, to their "new family." (Photo by Peter Phun.)

4:06 p.m.
President Dynes thanked Interim Chancellor Bob Grey for the "marvelous job he has done serving UCR." He then introduced Chancellor-designate Tim White. "Tim is a true product of the master-plan of California," he said in his remarks. "He is remarkable. I had a search committee, and we looked at several hundred candidates. And finally we came down to our first choice: Tim White."

4:05 p.m.
Interim Chancellor Bob Grey introduced UC President Robert Dynes.

3:50 p.m.
In the midst of a whirlwind day, Chancellor -designate White prepares to meet UCR staff, faculty and students. Meanwhile, the announcement has been picked up by the LA Times on a blog about education issues. Read more

Throughout the day, more and more media outlets have written stories, many coming via the Associated Press. A collection of stories can be read at Google news.
Read coverage at Google news

3:00 p.m.
Chancellor-designate White has arrived in Riverside and is discovering that the area is headed into a warm weather trend. He and his wife are expected on campus about 3:30 p.m.

12:34 p.m.
The White family has hit the road, on the way to Riverside.

12:00 noon
Timothy White has left the Regents meeting and is on his way to his hotel room to prepare for a trip down the freeway to Riverside. Southern California traffic could be interesting.

11:31 a.m.
Timothy White has completed a conference call with members of the Idaho media and rejoined the Regents meeting for a session on undergraduate diversity.

An observation from a hallway conversation this morning: A staff member for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein greeted White and congratulated him. He said he welcomed the contact and looked forward to a longer chat soon with the Senator.

Another observation from after the initial Regents vote this morning: UC President Robert Dynes congratulated Timothy White, and gave a "high five" to Logan, White's 4-year-old son, who is there at the meeting with his parents.

10:56 a.m.
The Idaho Statesman newspaper Web site has coverage from the Idaho perspective, along with some great photos of UCR's new chancellor.Read story

10:10 a.m.
White found a spot in UCLA's Covell Commons for a quick interview with Elaine Regus, the reporter who covers UC Riverside for The Press-Enterprise newspaper. Later in the day she filed her story. Read story

10:00 a.m.
Timothy White was in the middle of phoning members of the Board of Regents for the University of Idaho, offering them a chance to ask questions or talk about the future of the university.

9:52 a.m.
The Press-Enterprise has an excellent profile of Timothy P. White on the front page of the paper today.Read story

9:25 a.m.
Chancellor-designate White began by thanking the Regents for placing their confidence in him. "Will you always be so kind?" he joked. White added that he was deeply thrilled by this opportunity, this privilege, and deeply honored and humbled by the trust the Regents placed in him. A graduate of UC Berkeley, he said he liked the symmetry of giving back to the University of California. He said UCR holds high expectations for academic excellence, will be very student centered, will create leaders for California and the world, and find solutions for society's most vexing issues. He said he is committed to work with faculty, staff, students and the community to propel UCR to be the next great UC campus. He anticipates UCR will be highly respected nationally and become an Association of American Universities campus. It will have a high impact on the regional economy, the environment and society, he said. In closing he said the university will have a broad and ambitious agenda that will include the medical school. (Photo by Reed Hutchinson)

Before leaving the podium, he asked his wife, Karen, to join him on stage.

9:20 a.m.
President Dynes thanked Acting Chancellor Bob Grey for doing a superb job leading UCR, for bringing the campus through a difficult time and preparing it for Tim White.

He introduced Tim White as the new chancellor of UC Riverside. White comes from the University of Idaho, Dynes said, and exemplifies public higher education in California. He noted that White is a first-generation college graduate, has held academic leadership positions at four state universities, has a unique grasp of the mission of a land grant university and has an entrepreneurial leadership style. (Photo by Reed Hutchinson)

 

9:15 a.m.
Regent Bruce Varner said he was delighted to talk about Timothy White.

Varner, who is a member of the search committee, said that White was outstanding, that he understands the needs of the faculty and the need to build bridges with the community.

"Tim is the perfect person to do that."

Varner added that he was delighted to make the motion and that this will be an outstanding day for UC Riverside and the entire UC system.

9:00 a.m.
On Wednesday, May 15^th, a story in The Press-Enterprise, citing mysterious "government sources" made the connection in print between the University of Idaho's President Timothy White and the opening at UC Riverside: Read story

It wasn't long before the media in Idaho started citing The Press-Enterprise story as their own news hook for reporting it. Here's the story in the Lewiston Tribune: Read story