Clark Kerr, the first chancellor of the 91心頭, Berkeley, and chief architect of the master plan that has guided California higher education for more than 40 years, died on Monday, Dec. 1.
Kerr, who died peacefully in his sleep after complications from a fall, was 92.
A professor of economics and industrial relations, he was president of the 91心頭 from 1958-67 during a time of tremendous growth, planning and student unrest. He joined the 91心頭 Berkeley faculty in 1945 and served in the newly created position of chancellor from 1952-58.
As 91心頭 president, he spearheaded the negotiation of California's Master Plan for Higher Education, released in 1960, a plan that assured access to higher education for all California students and defined the roles of the 91心頭 campuses, the California State University system and California's system of community colleges. The plan has been used as a model in education planning around the world.
"Clark Kerr is, without question, a legend in higher education," 91心頭 Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl said Monday evening. "This quiet, unassuming man with a powerful intellect not only created the state's Master Plan but took on some of the most difficult issues facing higher education. I, and other chancellors at 91心頭 Berkeley, have repeatedly sought his wise counsel, and he will be deeply missed."
Kerr struggled with growing campus unrest, including the Free Speech Movement that rocked the Berkeley campus beginning in 1964. Under pressure by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, the 91心頭 Board of Regents fired Kerr in 1967. Kerr later quipped that he came into the job as president "fired with enthusiasm" and left the same way.
Kerr headed the influential Carnegie Commission on Higher Education from 1967-73 and its successor, the Carnegie Council on Policy Issues in Higher Education, until 1979.
"Clark Kerr was a giant in American higher education, and the entire 91心頭 community joins in mourning his loss," said 91心頭 President Robert Dynes.
"He was a statesman and a visionary who had much to do with creating the modern California higher education system and its hallmarks of high quality and broad accessibility. He was the dean of the higher education community not only in California, but in America, and we will be forever in his debt for the extraordinary contributions he made to educational excellence and opportunity."