Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Mark Yudof

SAN FRANCISCO -- The University of California's governing board named University of Texas System Chancellor Mark Yudof on Thursday to be the 10-campus UC system's next president after agreeing on a salary and benefits package that will put his annual compensation at more than $925,000.

Yudof's unanimous appointment was approved by the board of regents a little more than a week after a search committee recommended him to succeed outgoing President Robert Dynes, who plans to leave by June. Dynes' nearly five-year tenure was cut short by revelations that he had secretly approved bonuses and other perks for top university executives.

A University of Pennsylvania-trained lawyer and expert in free speech, education and constitutional law, Yudof, 63, spent five years as president of the University of Minnesota before assuming the chancellorship in Texas in 2002.

Yudof will be the first president from outside California to lead the UC system in two decades. With more than 220,000 students and 170,000 faculty and staff, the system is one of the world's largest public university networks and is known for the strength of its scholarship, particularly at schools such at UCLA and UC Berkeley.

"It wasn't easy to leave Texas," Yudof said after his confirmation. "When push came to shove, I felt like this was the place to be because of the outstanding quality of each of its campuses."

Already one of the country's most highly paid college administrators, Yudof will apparently retain that distinction when he assumes his new post this summer. He earned $775,000 this year as head of the nine-campus University of Texas system.

Under the deal approved by the regents Thursday, he will make a $591,084 salary; a $8,916 car allowance; a regular retirement benefit of $97,000; and a supplemental pension contribution of $228,000 during his first year in California. The base salary alone will make him the highest-paid state employee in California.

Dynes' salary this year is $405,000 and his total compensation $436,000, according to system spokesman Paul Schwartz. Commenting on the significant boost Yudof is getting in comparison, board Chairman Richard Blum said, "He's expensive, but he's worth it."

"One of the problems the university frequently has had is trying to step up and be competitive, whether it's for the president, chancellors or faculty," Blum said.

A report from the regents' compensation committee said part of Yudof's first-year pension costs would be offset by the $141,771 relocation allowance he agreed to forgo. He will get up to $25,000 in household moving expenses.

The cost of moving his professional library will also be covered, as well as a second move within the San Francisco Bay area if he relinquishes the president's job to serve on the faculty of Berkeley, where he will hold a dual appointment.

Yudof and his wife, Judy, will also be provided housing -- either in the president's official residence in the East Bay suburb of Kensington or somewhere else if that is unsuitable.

Several student government representatives addressed the compensation issue before Yudof's appointment was made final, noting that the cost of a UC education has risen steadily in recent years and is likely to increase again in the fall as the state deals with a multibillion-dollar deficit.

"We are paying for the best and we expect him to be fighting for the money to increase competitiveness at all levels," said Matt Corrales, a graduate student at UC Santa Cruz.

In Texas, Yudof earned a reputation as a gifted academic and manager who successfully lobbied for higher education dollars.

Several regents said they hoped that his integrity would restore confidence in the university system after the fallout from the executive compensation scandal that doomed Dynes.

Yudof said it would be presumptuous for him to outline specific changes he would make until he learns more about the college landscape in California.

He described himself as a devoted proponent of academic diversity, saying he would have voted against a ballot measure that outlawed the use of affirmative action in student and staff recruiting more than a decade ago.

He said his priorities would also include reducing the size of the president's office to save money, working to ensure that college remains affordable and demonstrating to the public what UC's campuses contribute to the state.

"I think the University of California every day needs to say to itself that we need to earn the trust and confidence of the people of California, and it has to be done every day even though it has been done for 140 years," Yudof said.