Earning My Degree: Memoirs of an American University President

Nine: The Public and Diplomatic Life

NINE THE PUBLIC AND DIPLOMATIC LIFE THE TASK The presidency of the University of California set me on a large stage. Its domestic and international cast included government officials and legislators , alumni and donors, diplomats and heads of state, scientists and scholars , business leaders and heads of the nation’s major foundations, presidents, vice-chancellors, and rectors of the world’s leading universities. To interact with these accomplished people in their diverse settings was an engrossing task. And, as president of a famous and respected institution, I was privileged to take a consequential role. Character and preparedness were also factors not to be underestimated, for they counted in the interplay of personalities and ideas that were germane to all that I strove to do in my public and diplomatic endeavors on the university’s behalf. Foremost in my mind was the cause of free universities everywhere and the essential values on which their well-being depended. I opposed the growing politicization of universities and the use of religious and/or political tests in the appointment or advancement of faculty members, the enhanced role of government and governing boards in unversities’ internal affairs, the suppression of ideas and academic freedom, and the relentless shrinking of public funding for universities everywhere. To understand the winds of change blowing across the social, political, religious, economic, educational, and cultural landscapes of our world, and 292 to apprehend their causes and consequences, was an essential part of this task: the diminishment of the nation-state, the rise of tribalism, the growth of civil disorder, the changing nature and meaning of sovereignty, the weakening of civil authority, the ascendancy of fundamentalist religions, and modernity ’s effects on developing countries—the globalization of ideas and trade, the industrialization of labor, urbanization, science, technology, and the mass migration of peoples. All these affect the universities, their freedoms, and the level of support they can expect to receive, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. I read widely and learned from well-informed visitors or hosts. It was also my good fortune to have academic and administrative colleagues who brought superior intellects to the table, along with experiences rich in life’s vagaries, seasoned by extensive travel and other university assignments. They were sophisticated observers of our own and other cultures as well as the subtle inner workings of large-scale, complex institutions, especially research universities. I benefited from the many opportunities I had to travel throughout the world. Adding to my widening circle of colleagues and friends, I served as the nation’s fortieth-anniversary Fulbright lecturer to Japan, received honorary degrees in Asia and Europe, represented our nation’s public universities at the nine hundredth anniversary of the founding of the University of Bologna and at Harvard University when celebrating its three hundred fiftieth birthday ,1 visited China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and the Soviet Union on assignment with a small team of other Americans under the auspices of the Asia Society, and gave papers at various international conferences. Within this country I served on several national commissions, the boards of several professional and nonprofit organizations, and various corporate boards; and was elected as a member or a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Education, and the National Academy of Public Administration. During these trips and engagements I worked to broaden my understanding of American higher education by comparing and contrasting other systems with our own, and to establish a professional and institutional network helpful to our university’s many and varied international interests. AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Iran This story of international engagement began with my early years as president of the University of Utah, long before my return to California. The U and Utah State University both had a long-standing relationship with Iran, in part because the topography, hydrology, soils, minerals, flora, and fauna THE PUBLIC AND DIPLOMATIC LIFE 293 of that nation—defined by high mountains in the north and high desert plateau country to the south—much resembled Utah’s. Scientists from Utah had traveled to Iran for decades, well before the region’s petroleum deposits and radical fundamentalists achieved prominence, assisting Iran in its efforts to modernize its agricultural practices and water systems. They also helped modernize its environmental management and its mining and other extractive processes. In turn, Iranian...