Irvine Chancellor Seen as Choice for UC Post : Education: emerges as compromise choice to become president of the system after panel deadlocks.

UC Irvine Chancellor Jack W. Peltason, a political scientist and former head of the American Council on Education, has emerged as the compromise nominee of a bitterly divided committee searching for a new president of the nine-campus UC system, officials said Wednesday.

The panel reportedly deadlocked earlier this week on the widely anticipated candidacies of two other UC chancellors, UCLA’s Charles E. Young and UC San Diego’s Richard C. Atkinson. The committee of UC regents then turned to Peltason, even though he is 68 years old and had to be given an exemption just to remain Irvine chancellor past the mandatory retirement age of 67 for UC executives, regents and other sources said.

The full Board of Regents is scheduled to vote on the Peltason nomination at a special meeting Friday at UC San Francisco. Knowledgeable officials said that approval is likely but warned that there could be a revolt by regents who think Peltason would be only a short-term, caretaker president and not the strong innovator that the prestigious but financially troubled 166,000-student system needs.

“Clearly, this is an interim, interim appointment,” said one official, who requested anonymity. “It’s saying, in effect, we just can’t make up our minds.”

Peltason supporters describe him as extremely vigorous and well attuned to Sacramento and national politics, while also presenting the scholarly attributes demanded by faculty. An expert on constitutional law, he was chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for a decade until 1977 and then served for seven years as president of the American Council on Education, where he was part of the movement to reform university athletics. The native of St. Louis and father of three has been Irvine chancellor since 1984.

“He’s eminently qualified,” said one education leader. “He knows higher education inside out.”

Atkinson, 63, and Young, 60, each received four votes Monday during what several UC sources described as a very tense meeting of the search committee. Atkinson, former head of the National Science Foundation, has been UC San Diego chancellor since 1980. Young was chosen at age 36 to become the youngest UC chancellor in the system’s history and has lasted 23 years in the job, making him the most veteran of campus chiefs.

While both are highly regarded administrators, their candidacies may have been hurt by past personal problems--Young’s arrest in 1975 for drunk driving, and a 1981 paternity suit against Atkinson by a former Harvard assistant professor.

Peltason was the third finalist and garnered two votes in the first round of voting Monday. Although one regent denied Wednesday that the nomination panel had been badly divided, other sources said Atkinson backers broke the deadlock by shifting their support to Peltason as the nominee to succeed David P. Gardner, who is retiring Oct. 1 after nine years as UC president.

UC Board of Regents Chairman Meredith L. Khachigian would only confirm that the search committee had selected a nominee and cautioned that no final decision will be made until Friday’s special session.

To win approval, Peltason must overcome some anxiety among regents about his age.

Exemptions to UC’s mandatory retirement age of 67 for university executives are occasionally granted. To keep his Irvine post, Peltason was given an open-ended extension in February, 1990. Chancellors Julius Krevans of UC San Francisco and Karl Pister of UC Santa Cruz were also granted such exemptions recently.

A regent who requested anonymity said Peltason’s age was not a negative. “He isn’t going to last for 20 years, but I think the regents have to make exception to the retirement rule. Age discrimination is getting to be a thing of the past.”

William R. Schonfeld, Irvine’s dean of social sciences, said of Peltason: “This man has more energy, drive and enthusiasm than your average 23-year-old, but with an incredible amount of experience and skills that are exactly the ones the university needs right now.”

UCI evolutionary biology professor Francisco Ayala agreed. “In spite of his charming, low-key personality, he is a man of great vision and great intellectual stature. And he is acknowledged in this country as one of the great leaders (among) university administrators.”

Peltason helped found the 1,489-acre Irvine campus in 1964 as its vice chancellor of academic affairs. He is credited by Irvine city officials and others with developing the hilly Orange County campus into a respected academic institution with nearly 17,000 students. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Missouri and a doctorate from Princeton University.

Gardner unexpectedly announced his resignation in November, saying his wife’s death last year made it impossible for him to continue in the position, which pays $243,500 annually.

He is leaving as the state’s growing budget deficit is causing the highly regarded public university system to raise fees and consider enrollment limits. In the face of angry student protests, UC regents have voted to raise student fees next fall by $550, or 24%. Also, plans for a 10th campus have been slowed.

Times education writer Jean Merl contributed to this story.

Jack W. Peltason/ UCI CHANCELLOR

Born: Aug. 29, 1923, in St. Louis.

Family: Married to Suzanne Toll. Two daughters, one son, six grandchildren. Lives in Irvine.

Education: BS and BA in political science, University of Missouri; MA and Ph.D. in political science, Princeton.

Resume highlights: Chancellor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1967-77; president, American Council on Education, 1977-84.

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