| Robert J. Birgeneau | |
|---|---|
| Birgeneau at a Blum Center groundbreaking, April 2009. | |
| 9th Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley | |
| In office 2004 – present |
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| Preceded by | Robert Berdahl |
| 14th President of the University of Toronto | |
| In office 2000–2004 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Prichard |
| Succeeded by | David Naylor |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 25, 1942 Toronto,Ontario |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Catherine |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto Yale University |
Robert Joseph Birgeneau (born March 25, 1942) is a Canadian physicist, educator, and university administrator. He is the ninth chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and was the fourteenth president of the University of Toronto from 2000 to 2004.
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The first from his family to finish high school, Birgeneau graduated from St. Michael's College School in Toronto. He received a B.Sc in mathematics in 1963 from St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto, where he also met his wife Mary Catherine; they have four children.[1] Birgeneau received his Ph.D in physics from Yale University in 1966.
He spent a year each on the faculties of Yale and the University of Oxford. From 1968 to 1975, he worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories. He then joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a professor of physics. During his 25 years at MIT, he served as chair of the physics department and then as dean of science.
He left the University of Toronto before the end of his seven-year term, causing a flurry of controversy with his abrupt departure. He was recommended to the Regents by Robert Dynes.
On June 14, 2007, Birgeneau joined the Chancellor of Columbia University in condemning Britain's University and College Union for boycotting Israeli academics and academic institutions and insisting that any boycott include their universities.[2]
Citing the "likely" threat to California's academic competitiveness if Proposition 8 were passed, Birgeneau urged the UC Berkeley community to vote against a 2008 state ballot measure which would eliminate the right of gays and lesbians to marry.[3]
In November 2008, former President Robert Dynes' close aide and his UC Associate President Linda Morris Williams, was awarded a controversial pay out and re-hired as an Associate Chancellor at University of California, Berkeley by Chancellor Robert Birgeneau.[4][5][6] Birgeneau is a fellow Canadian and old friend of Dynes at Bell Labs. This event led President Mark Yudof to make changes to the buy out program.[7][8]
With calls by students to occupy the UC Berkeley campus, Chancellor Birgeneau sent a letter, dated November 7, 2011, to the campus community stating "Any activities such as pulling fire alarms, occupying buildings, setting up encampments, graffiti, or other destructive actions that disrupt with anyone's ability to conduct regular activities -- go to class, study, carry out their research, etc. -- will not be tolerated."[9] On November 9, 2011, UC Berkeley students attempted to build an Occupy encampment at Sproul Plaza to protest the financial handling of the state's higher education system.[10] The students were met by UC Berkeley Police and Alameda County sheriff's deputies in riot gear. The students tried to set up tents but were stopped by the police, and 7 students were arrested. A second altercation occurred in the evening when students joined arms and chanted "hold the line" and "the whole world is watching" while police approached with riot batons and bean-bag guns.[11] Six UC Berkeley students and one faculty member were arrested for resisting and delaying police officers.
Later in the day, Chancellor Birgeneau issued a statement saying "it is unfortunate that some protesters chose to obstruct the police by linking arms and forming a human chain to prevent the police from gaining access to the tents. This is not non-violent civil disobedience."[12] UC Berkeley faculty and students later condemned the actions of Birgeneau and his administration: "We are deeply disturbed by the images of violence against members of the campus community, as well as the justification and defense of these acts that followed" [13] A further 2,363 faculty and staff stated "We express no confidence in the willingness of the Chancellor, and other leaders of the UC Berkeley administration, to respond appropriately to student protests, to secure student welfare, and to respect freedom of speech and assembly on the Berkeley campus.".[14]
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