New UCI chancellor appointed

Michael Miller

Michael V. Drake, a longtime University of California professor,

administrator and champion of student diversity, has been appointed

as the fifth chancellor of UC Irvine.

The UC Board of Regents announced the appointment of Drake, who is

UCI’s first African American chancellor, Thursday morning at its

regular meeting in San Francisco. On July 1, the New York City native

will replace current UCI chancellor Ralph Cicerone, who was recently

elected president of the National Academy of Sciences.

Robert C. Dynes, the president of the university, recommended

Drake out of more than 600 nationwide candidates.

“UC Irvine is a campus that has risen to great heights in its

relatively brief 40-year history, and Dr. Drake brings the perfect

credentials and depth of experience to further that momentum,” Dynes

said in a release. “He is an accomplished academic, a skillful and

energetic leader, and one who understands the role that UC Irvine

plays as a leading force for educational, social and economic growth

in Orange County and beyond.”

At 10 a.m. today the new chancellor plans to meet with the UCI

community near the rock garden in Aldrich Park.

In a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Drake, 54, said

working as a chancellor would reacquaint him with the world he knew

as a student and professor.

“I’m probably most excited about the opportunity to return to an

undergraduate campus,” Drake said. “When I left college to go to

medical school, my biggest regret was that it was an isolated medical

center and not connected with an undergraduate campus.”

A practicing doctor, Drake entered UC San Francisco as a medical

student in 1975 and later joined the faculty as a professor of

ophthalmology. Since 2000, he has served as the UC system’s vice

president for health affairs, overseeing medical schools on seven

campuses.

“I’m sure he’ll have a great interaction with prospective students

because he’s just that kind of person,” Cicerone said. “He knows a

lot about medical schools and medical education.”

Apart from his administrative work, Drake has won accolades for

his work on behalf of diversity and minority enrollment in the UC

system. Last year, the Assn. of American Medical Colleges presented

him with its fifth Herbert W. Nickens, M.D., Award, which honors

individuals who have promoted justice in medical education and health

care.

In 1999, UC officials appointed Drake to the Medical Student

Diversity Task Force to study the effect of affirmative action laws

on medical school enrollment.

Last July, he co-created the Program in Medical Education for the

Latino Community, or PRIME-LC, in UCI’s College of Medicine.

The PRIME-LC program, which began last year with eight students,

trains aspiring physicians who plan to work in disadvantaged Latino

areas.

Alberto Manetta, a senior associate dean in the UCI College of

Medicine who directs the program, was glad to hear about Drake’s

selection as chancellor.

“It’s a great appointment,” Manetta said. “I think he brings to

the table talent, a reputation and wisdom, which are going to be very

much appreciated by the faculty of UCI.”

Anna Gonzalez, the director of the Cross Cultural Center on

campus, favored Drake’s appointment as chancellor because of his

background in social activism.

“It’s hopefully going to be a positive step in terms of looking at

a diverse population at UCI,” she said. “I think, more importantly,

too, his coming to UCI will reengage our community with regard to

that matter of diversity.

“I think there’s a feeling that it’s over 50 years since Brown vs.

Board of Education, that we’ve integrated, so we should stop talking

about it. But when you see the disparity between communities, we

still need to engage it.”

Drake, who grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, holds undergraduate

degrees in African and African American Studies from Stanford

University and in medical sciences from UCSF.

At the press conference Thursday, he cited as his greatest

influence his father, who worked all-night shifts in the Harlem

Hospital emergency room and saw patients in his own neighborhood

during the day.

“The only part of this I knew as a 5-year-old was that he had an

office in the home,” Drake recalled. “I didn’t realize until years

later that he was doing this round-the-clock work. I asked him years

later why he did this. He said it was just a privilege to be able to

support the family.”