Summary
Robert Carr Dynes (born November 8, 1942) is a Canadian-American physicist, researcher, and academic administrator, and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and the former president of the University of California system, and former chancellor of the University of California San Diego.
Robert C. Dynes | |
|---|---|
| 18th President of the University of California | |
| In office 2003–2007 | |
| Preceded by | Richard C. Atkinson |
| Succeeded by | Mark Yudof |
| 7th Chancellor of the University of California San Diego | |
| In office 1996–2003 | |
| Preceded by | Richard C. Atkinson |
| Succeeded by | Marye Anne Fox |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 November 1942 London, Ontario, Canada |
| Spouses |
|
| Alma mater | University of Western Ontario McMaster University |
| Profession | Academic administrator, physicist, professor, researcher |
| Institutions | Bell Laboratories University of California San Diego University of California University of California, Berkeley |
Biography edit
Early years edit
Dynes was born in Ontario, Canada, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from the University of Western Ontario in 1964. He then earned master's (1965) and doctorate (1968) degrees in physics from McMaster University. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1984.
Career edit
Dynes worked at Bell Laboratories from 1964 to 1990, studying semiconductors and superconductors. He then became professor of physics at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), in 1991. In 1996 he became Chancellor of the UCSD campus, then in 2003 was chosen to be the 18th President of the University of California system.
Dynes' scientific honors include the 1990 Fritz London Memorial Prize in Low Temperature Physics and his 2001 election to the Council of the National Academy of Sciences, a society to which he was elected in 1989.
Dynes is a fellow of the American Physical Society (1981),[1] the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dynes remains active in his research and heads a modest sized low temperature physics laboratory at Berkeley.
After five tumultuous years as President of UC, filled with compensation scandals, the suicide of UCSC Chancellor Denice Denton and other challenges,[2][3][4] on August 13, 2007, Dynes announced he would resign his position as the President of the University of California to return to his teaching position and spend time with his new wife, Ann Parode. He resigned on August 16. 2007, and was replaced by Mark Yudof, formerly chancellor of the University of Texas.
In November 2008, Dynes' close aide and his UC Associate President Linda Morris Williams was awarded a controversial pay out[5][6] and re-hired as an Associate Chancellor at University of California, Berkeley by Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. This event led President Mark Yudof to make changes to the buy out program.[7][8]
Personal life edit
Dynes naturalized to the United States in 1984. He married Cristel Dynes in 1968 and they divorced in January 1998. He married a physics professor, Frances Hellman,[9] in May 1998 and they divorced in 2006. He married a former UCSD legal counsel and UC Associate of the President, Ann Parode,[10] in March 2007.[9]
References edit
- Cerolyn Jones (14 August 2007). "Dynes Quitting as Head of UC - Presided Over Compensation Scandal". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
- Cerolyn Jones (14 August 2007). "Dynes' tenure". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
Notes edit
- ^ "APS Fellow Archive". American Physical Society. (search on year=1981 and institution=Bell Laboratories)
- ^ SF Chronicle Scandal Mars UC Chief Legacy
- ^ San Francisco Magazine Scandals Scapegoats and Suicide
- ^ Five Tumultuous Years
- ^ SF Chronicle "Severance, new UC job for aide in pay scandal" http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/26/MNBB14D1B4.DTL
- ^ California State Auditor Report 2006-103, May 2, 2006 http://www.bsa.ca.gov/reports/2006-103/employees/232.html
- ^ Sf Chronicle "UC Chief Changes Buyout Plan"http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/12/03/MNH614GCU0.DTL&o=2
- ^ San Diego Reader "After the Fall" http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2008/dec/10/breaking-news-1/
- ^ a b San Diego Reader "UCSD Big Money and Ball Club" http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2000/feb/24/ucsd-big-money-and-ball-club/
- ^ Appointment of Ann Parode Dynes as Associate of the President March 2007 Regent Minutes
External links edit
- Oral history interview transcript with Robert Dynes on 30 March 2020, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
- Biography of Robert C. Dynes
- Homepage of Robert C. Dynes at UC San Diego