News Archive

WHY I MISS THE CULTURE WARS - THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, FEB. 2015

"We need to provide a coherent defense of the liberal arts, for their role in the larger university and for the broader society. For me, the defense is both deeply personal and based on intellectual and institutional arguments."

A GLOBAL HUB, CLOSE TO HOME - INSIDE HIGHER ED, JAN. 2015

"Chancellor Nicholas Dirks has proposed that the Berkeley Global Campus at Richmond Bay will be 'a new form of international hub' in which a group of leading foreign universities and technology companies will establish satellite locations on a 130-acre parcel of Berkeley-owned land located a mere 10 miles from the main campus." 

BERKELEY PLANS TO BUILD A GLOBAL CAMPUS, TEN MILES FROM HOME - THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, JAN. 2015

"The campus’s main goal, Dirks said, is to encourage an interdisciplinary approach to global problems like climate change, income inequality, epidemic diseases, and the need for new forms of sustainable energy."

Nicholas Dirks: Intimate Chats in the public spotlight - the San Francisco Chronicle, Sep. 17, 2014

"Chancellor Dirks will introduce, and in some cases interview, the performers, writers and other notables appearing at Berkeley Talks, a new series he created with Cal Performances Director Matías Tarnopolsky. It’s the first move in the chancellor’s initiative to engage people across campus and in the wider community with the arts."

WHAT 'IVORY TOWER' GETS WRONG - THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, JUL. 22, 2014

"My first response on seeing the film, as an academic (now administrator) who has spent an entire career in college settings, was to welcome the depiction of the dilemmas and challenges confronting a range of institutions. Yet the film made me increasingly uneasy, despite its illustrations of the power of undergraduate education."

UC BERKELEY'S CHANCELLOR ON THE CAREER PATHS OF ELITE COLLEGIANS

Chancellor Nicholas Dirks drew comparisons between Columbia, Stanford, and the institution he runs.  In an Aspen Ideas Festival* panel on the state of the humanities, he summed up the difference between Ivy Leaguers in New York City and graduates of the institution he now runs. "You know, the tradition at Columbia is that you read Aristotle and then you go to Goldman Sachs," he said. "And the dream at Berkeley is to do social work and then go work for Google or Facebook."

THE PODCAST: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Nicholas Dirks, chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and Scott Biddy, vice-chancellor for university relations at the same institution, discuss California’s public university system, the forthcoming presidential election, and an incident near the University of California at Santa Barbara last month that left six students dead - three of them from gunshot wounds.

UC BERKELEY’S CHANCELLOR PROMOTES VALUE OF COLLEGE TO BHS STUDENTS

As part of the White House Call to Action to bring college opportunities to more students, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks came to Berkeley High School last week to talk with 140 students participating in college preparatory support programs.

DIRKS SPEAKS ON BUILDING PUBLIC- AND PRIVATE- SECTOR SUPPORT FOR UNDERGRADUATES

Chancellor Nicholas Dirks spoke Wednesday night to an audience of alumni and other stakeholders at the Commonwealth Club of California to advocate more public and private engagement to bolster the student experience and success of the campus.
March 13, 2014 - The Daily Californian

THE UTOPIAN PAST AND FUTURE OF THE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY: A VIEW FROM BERKELEY NICHOLAS B. DIRKS

Speech prepared for delivery at The Commonwealth Club San Francisco, California 
March 12, 2014

TOGETHER OUR SCHOOL CAN CONTINUE TO LEAD

In an editorial published in the Daily Californian, Chancellor Dirks lays out three areas of focus for the campus: undergraduate education, a global university, and research and innovation as well as an renaissance of the arts.
February 21, 2014 - The Daily Californian

UC BERKELEY CHANCELLOR NICHOLAS DIRKS: 'BUSINESS HAS TO STEP UP'

In a recent interview, Chancellor Dirks called upon the business community to support higher education, "...because of waning state support for public universities, businesses' intervention may become essential if they are to continue running."
January 22, 2014 - The Huffington Post

DIRKS OUTLINES GOALS FOR FIRST YEAR AT HELM

In a time of rising tuition and shrinking budgets, Chancellor Nicholas Dirks faces the enormous task of preserving UC Berkeley’s prestige and competitive offerings. 
August 27, 2013 - The Daily Californian

UC BERKELEY LAUNCHES NEW YEAR WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK

With students already coming to campus to begin their classes Thursday for the 2013-14 academic year, UC Berkeley officials summed up a range of successes and plans during a special media presentation Monday afternoon.
August 27, 2013 - Berkeleyside

NEW CAL CHANCELLOR SAYS NO TO 'P-WORD'

At a news conference Monday, the new chancellor at UC Berkeley, Nicholas Dirks, abjured the possibility of privatization for the public university, despite the long-term reduction of state support and increasing reliance on private funding.
August 27, 2013 - Berkeley Patch

UC BERKELEY EMERGES FROM RECESSION WITH CONFIDENCE

UC Berkeley has emerged from the California recession with a new chancellor, new plans for helping liberal arts majors nail down that elusive career, and despite a new dependence on private dollars - a committment to remain a public resource.
August 26, 2013 - SF Chronicle 

NEW CHANCELLOR NICHOLAS DIRKS PREPARES FOR HIS FIRST SEMESTER AT CAL

"Coming to Berkeley is like coming to Mecca," said the new leader, Nicholas Dirks, on Monday. "It's a premier institution of higher learning at every level."
August 26, 2013 - Oakland Tribune

NEW UC BERKELEY CHANCELLOR SAYS SCHOOL NEEDS TO RELY LESS ON STATE, MORE ON DONORS

New University of California at Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said today that the university will need to rely more on philanthropy for funding but promised that it won’t become more privatized.
August 26, 2013 - San Francisco Appeal

NICHOLAS DIRKS BRINGS PATIENT EAR TO JOB

At an elegant tea at UC Berkeley recently, Cal's new chancellor, Nicholas Dirks, fielded questions from donors asking about the arts, online education and the rising cost of college.
July 15, 2013 - SF Chronicle

A BRIGHTER OUTLOOK FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA

Nicholas B. Dirks, the former executive vice president and dean of the faculty of arts and sciences at Columbia University, began his tenure as chancellorof UC Berkeley...
July 12, 2013 - Los Angeles Times 

ADMINISTERING CHANGE

The career of incoming Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks has led him out of the classroom in order to influence what happens within it.

  
June 16, 2013 - California Magazine

STUDENTS CHECK OUT INCOMING CHANCELLOR

Nicholas Dirks introduced himself and fielded questions at a conversational meet-up Thursday afternoon between UC Berkeley students and the campus’s next chancellor. About 100 people turned out for what Dirks called one of the “first of a long series of conversations with you.” Earlier in the day, Chancellor Birgeneau and Dirks met with student winners of the “Fiat Lux Remix” contest. May 3, 2013