News Archive

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."

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.

Full article: The Podcast: University of California

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.

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.

Full article: Dirks Speaks on Building Public- and Private- Sector Support for Undergraduates

Speech prepared for delivery at The Commonwealth Club San Francisco, California. Read the full speech (PDF).

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.

Full article: Together Our School Can Continue to Lead

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."

Full article: UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks: 'Business Has to Step Up'

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. Read the full SF Chronicle article.

"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 . . . "

Full article: A Brighter Outlook for Higher Education in California

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.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences announced a new initiative – the Lincoln Project: Excellence and Access in Public Higher Education – to advocate for the importance of public colleges and universities. Chancellor Birgeneau has agreed to lead the project and will be a senior visiting scholar at the Academy when he steps down as Chancellor on June 1.

The American Institute of Physics announced Chancellor Birgeneau will receive the 2012 Karl Taylor Compton Medal for Leadership in Physics. The medal was established in 1957 to honor physicists who have made outstanding contributions through exceptional statesmanship in science.