Entrepreneurial President—Richard Atkinson and the University of California, 1995–2003

Abstract

DOI 10.1515/cjpp-2012-0032 Calif. J. Politics Policy 2012; 4(3):273–275 Book review Entrepreneurial President—Richard Atkinson and the University of California, 1995–2003 By Patricia A. Pelfrey ISBN: 9780520270800, 250 pp., Universityof California Press: Berkeley, CA. Dr. Pat Pelfrey has written a most interesting book on Richard Atkinson, presi- dent of the University of California during the last years of the golden century for public universities in the USA. Pelfrey understands Dick Atkinson, no mean task considering his complexities. Indeed, the reader knows after just a few chap- ters that she recognizes the most intriguing aspects of Atkinson’s personality. For example, he seems to some to be simultaneously unusually intelligent and apparently anti-intellectual. In fact, Pelfry convincingly explains with examples throughout the book that Atkinson was “highly intellectual, but with a distinctly un-academic dislike of verbal dueling”. It is hard to imagine anyone more qualified than Pat Pelfrey to write this book. She is an English literature and composition expert by PhD education, but a University of California (UC) presidents expert from 40 years of career and pro- fession, going back to President Charles Hitch in 1970. That expertise is appar- ent throughout the book. In addition, Pelfrey has written A Brief History of the University of California. The author pays special attention to three UC transitions in which Atkinson played major roles: the move of the UC into the post-affirmative action age; the expansion of the research enterprise into collaborations with the private sector; and the move away from the intimate relationships with Los Alamos and Liver- more National Weapons Laboratories. The three areas are well-chosen. One fin­ i­shes the book feeling that while it is not a complete biography or history, when the last page is read, you have little doubt that you now better understand what motivated Dick Atkinson. SP-1, SP-2. Pelfrey begins her book with what is easily the clearest and most inclusive discussion of the passage of SP-1 and SP-2 so far published. “On July 20, 1995, the Board of Regents of the University of California rolled back thirty years of history by abolishing the use of racial and ethnic preferences in admissions and employment. The two resolutions approved by the board, SP-1 (on admissions) and SP-2 (on employment and purchasing), passed by a narrow margin after a long and exhausting day of regental maneuvering and unsuccessful attempts at compromise”.