Clark Kerr
| Clark Kerr | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Twelfth President of the University of California |
|
|
In office 1958–1967 |
|
| First Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley |
|
|
In office 1952–1957 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 17, 1911 Stony Creek, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Died | December 1, 2003 (aged 92) El Cerrito, California, USA |
| Spouse(s) | Catherine Spaulding Kerr |
| Alma mater |
Swarthmore College Stanford University U.C. Berkeley |
| Profession | Economist, educator, administrator |
| Institutions |
University of Washington University of California, Berkeley University of California |
Clark Kerr (May 17, 1911 – December 1, 2003) was an American professor of economics and academic administrator. He was the first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and twelfth president of the University of California.
Kerr was born in Stony Creek, Pennsylvania to Samuel William and Caroline (Clark) Kerr, and earned his A.B. from Swarthmore College in 1932, an M.A. from Stanford University in 1933, and a Ph.D. in economics from UC Berkeley in 1939. In 1945, he became an associate professor of industrial relations and was the founding director of the UC Berkeley Institute of Industrial Relations.
Soon after the beginning of the Second Red Scare (the McCarthy era), in 1949, the Regents of the University of California adopted an anti-communist loyalty oath to be signed by all University of California employees. Kerr signed the oath, but fought against the firing of those who refused to sign. Kerr gained respect from his stance and was named UC Berkeley's first chancellor when that position was created in 1952. As chancellor, Kerr oversaw the construction of 12 high-rise dormitories. In September, 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him to the Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.
In 1958, Kerr was the Regents' choice to lead the entire university system. His term as UC president saw the opening of campuses in San Diego, Irvine, and Santa Cruz to accommodate the influx of baby boomers. Faced with a dramatic increase of students entering college, Kerr helped establish the now much-copied California system of having the handful of University of California campuses act as 'top tier' research institutions, the more numerous California State University campuses handle the bulk of undergraduate students and the very numerous California Community College campuses provide vocational and transfer-oriented college programs to the remainder. A Mother Jones article mentioned that Kerr's achievements in this field earned him international acclaim.
...
Wikipedia