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Campus Welcomes Chancellor-Designate Drake Chancellor-designate embraces UCI Michael Drake engages students, staff, faculty and the community Irvine, Calif., May 27, 2005 One day after the UC Regents confirmed Dr. Michael Drake as UCI’s chancellor-designate, he and his wife, Brenda, visited the campus that will soon become their home. At a welcome ceremony in Aldrich Park – surrounded by students, faculty and staff – Drake discussed his excitement at being chancellor, his commitment to education and the themes of excellence and inclusion. “Any success I might achieve will be a result of what you do,” he said to the crowd. “And any happiness or joy I feel will be happiness or joy that you all create and experience in your own lives. “I look forward to all of us together working on this great enterprise.” Fatherly Advice Drake was welcomed by Chancellor Ralph Cicerone and his wife, Carol; UC President Robert Dynes; immediate past president of UCI’s Staff Assembly, Penny White; and Peter the Anteater. Applause erupted as Drake hugged Peter, who presented him with a “Completely Insane Anteaters” T-shirt. Not missing a beat, Drake traded his suit coat for the bright yellow tee and gave the crowd the “Rip ’em Eaters” hand-sign. Drake told listeners that after receiving the Regents’ nod on Thursday, he called his parents – both in their nineties – to share the news. Drake said his father, also a doctor and “sharp as a tack,” told him, “The most important thing in a position like yours is to have the right team, because it’s the people that make this successful.” “He was exactly right,” he said, acknowledging the success of UCI’s current 35,000-person team. In closing his remarks to the campus community, Drake quoted Indian poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” Physician and Humanist A widely respected ophthalmologist and member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, Drake has been associated with the University of California for 30 years, beginning as a medical student at UC San Francisco and since 2000 serving as UC vice president for health affairs, overseeing the education and research activities at UC’s 15 health science schools. He said his varied experiences as student, physician and administrator have given him the range of perspectives necessary to successfully steer a complex university poised for continued growth. At a press conference after the welcome ceremony, Drake noted the importance of the university in California’s knowledge-based economy of the future and stressed his deep commitment to the humanities and other fields outside science. “You can be an excellent physician as a scientist, but to be an outstanding physician, you have to be a humanist as well. The work of medicine is bonding with people, to work with them often at the lowest points, to help their lives move forward,” he said. “It’s an incredibly human interaction.” Drake said that he would like UCI to be an employer of choice in the community, and that UCI’s graduates “be the outstanding and preferred employees of this community.” He also stressed the importance of the campus’s ties with the business community, noting that if the campus’s mission and vision are articulated clearly and the university’s values are appropriately aligned, UCI will naturally be a place where business leaders turn. Making the Transition Drake will officially step into the role of chancellor on July 1; in the meantime, he will be wrapping up work on his grants at UCSF, transitioning his UCOP projects and saying goodbye to his Bay Area patients. For now, his wife Brenda, a lawyer, will commute to Oakland to fulfill commitments with the Public Health Trust. Still, having once lived a year in Southern California, Drake expects the transition to Irvine to be a smooth one. And, in a nod to the day’s June gloom, he joked that, after 30 years in the Bay Area, it made him feel quite welcome. [ back to top ] | |
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Chancellor-designate Michael V. Drake, M.D., center, and wife, Brenda, arrive on campus
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Brenda and Michael Drake )
Drake in crowd
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Drake with UC President Robert Dynes and outgoing Chancellor Ralph Cicerone )
Drake at lectern
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Dr. Michael V. Drake )
Drake speaking to crowd
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Drake welcomed by Peter the Anteater )
Dynes, right, teaches Drake the Rip 'em Eaters sign
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Drake salutes crowd )
Drake and Dynes
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Drake gives thumbs up
Photos by Paul R. Kennedy
Related Links
Chancellor Announcement Press Release
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