UC Merced chancellor to step down next year

MERCED — University of California at Merced Chancellor Steve Kang said Thursday that he will resign in June and return to a research and teaching position with the University of California.

Kang, 65, is the university's second chancellor since the school opened in 2005. He took the helm in March 2007, succeeding founding Chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey.

"It has been a singular honor and the highlight of my administrative career to serve as chancellor of the newest University of California campus during its critical development years," Kang said in a news release.

During his time as chancellor, UC Merced increased its enrollment to roughly 4,000 students this fall from fewer than 1,300 in 2007. Kang also oversaw the revision of long-range planning documents, and he helped create academic goals.

"Chancellor Kang assumed office during a very difficult time and has put UC Merced on course to become the next great research university in the UC system," UC President Mark G. Yudof said. "I look forward to working with him over the next 10 months to sustain the momentum he's created and prepare for a smooth handoff next summer."

Josh Franco, former UC Merced class president, was part of the selection committee that appointed Kang.

"I felt like (Kang) understood what a new campus meant to the Central Valley and I felt like he would do a good job of the coming of age of the campus," said Franco.

Kang had a different leadership style from Tomlinson-Keasey, Franco noted. Tomlinson-Keasey, who passed away in 2009 from cancer, fought for the school with passion and charisma.

"Kang was more of a consensus builder," Franco said. "Her objective was to build a university and ensure it would be there forever. Kang's was to ensure that the long-term plans were cemented."

Prior to working at UC Merced, Kang was a professor and administrator for 25 years, six of which included working as a professor of electrical engineering and dean of the Baskin School of Engineering at UC Santa Cruz.

Kang is also an internationally recognized electrical engineer and holds more than a dozen patents in integrated-circuit design, UC Merced officials said.

Before returning to the classroom, Kang will take a year of paid leave, said UC Merced spokeswoman Patti Waid Istas.

Ricardo Vasquez, spokesman for the the UC Office of the President, said chancellors are at-will employees, meaning that there is no fixed amount of time they have to serve.

Kang said he left on his own accord.

"From the beginning, I thought four to five years would be good for the development of the university and then I would return to the classroom," Kang said. "When things are going well, it's a good time to leave."