Chancellor Departs Amid Tears

UC Irvine Chancellor Laurel L. Wilkening bid farewell Friday to the campus community and a career in academic administration that brought her both the accolades and challenges of a lifetime.

Wilkening ended her five-year term with a speech in the direct and plain style for which she is known, heaping praise on the campus staff for its often-unnoticed contributions at a place where glory is often reserved for instructors and students.

“The staff are the people who make this place work,” Wilkening said.

She did, however, compliment the faculty, particularly junior members, whom she called the best in the nation. When it came to the students, her remarks were laced with tears.

The praise was returned during an understated ceremony in the center of campus. About 250 people gathered on the grass to listen to brief speeches, watch dance performances and eat baked goods.

“Laurel, we are all of your students, and we thank you,” Executive Vice Chancellor Sidney Golub said.

Physical sciences Dean Ralph J. Cicerone will replace Wilkening as the fourth chancellor in the campus’ 34-year history.

Wilkening, who began her career as a planetary scientist, was selected chancellor after serving for five years as provost at the University of Washington. As soon as she arrived, Wilkening was forced to offset state budget cuts by increasing fund-raising at the UC’s youngest campus.

Her most difficult challenge arrived in 1994, when doctors at the UCI fertility clinic were accused of stealing reproductive eggs from women and planting them in patients. Wilkening, however, won loyalty for pulling the university through in its darkest hour.

Achievements followed. In 1995, UC Irvine became the first public university to receive two Nobel Prizes in two fields--chemistry and physics--in the same year.

Wilkening said she is pleased to depart from the campus on a high note. She will join her husband, Godfrey Sill, at the family vineyard in Arizona for a year of reading and reflection. After that, she plans to pursue a position with a nonprofit agency that champions her concerns about the environment, population control or women’s issues.

“It’s a good time to go, when things are going well,” she said.