UC system President Michael Drake announces plant to leave the position next year

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – On Wednesday, Michael V. Drake, the 21st President of the University of California system, announced he will be stepping down from the role at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year.

The UC system consists of ten campuses, six academic health systems, and three nationally-affiliated labs spread across the nation's most populous state.

"It has been an extraordinary honor to work alongside Michael Drake, a thoughtful leader who has advanced the University’s mission with his forward-looking approach. I appreciate his great partnership with the UC Board of Regents as we’ve explored exciting opportunities and tackled challenging issues — all in the service of our students, faculty, staff, and the broader community," said Janet Reilly, Chair of the UC Board of Regents. "President Drake has dedicated much of his career, his energy, and his expertise to the University of California and his contributions will most definitely leave a lasting impact and an inspiring legacy on this institution."

UC Board of Regents Chair Reilly will soon appoint a committee to start the nationwide search for the next president.

In accordance with the University of California system selection policy, that search committee will include students, faculty, staff, and alumni representatives as well as seek input from both the UC community and the general public explained the education system in a press release about the announcement Wednesday.

Dr. Drake was appointed to the position in July of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and his tenure had some notable achievements, but recent responses to on-campus protests and labor disputes have clouded the end of his tenure.

"President Drake took the reins of the University of California during the height of the pandemic and has led with grace and vision in the years since," explained California Governor Gavin Newsom. "He has used his decades of experience to advocate for better access to higher education for all Californians and has always fought for academic excellence. On behalf of all Californians, I thank President Drake for his leadership, for growing our UC system, and for paving a brighter path forward for our state. His legacy of service in higher education has undoubtedly helped us grow the next generation of extraordinary California leaders, and it’s been an honor to work alongside him."

In January of 2022, the California Legislature agreed to a five-year funding compact for the education system negotiated by President Drake.

President Drake also launched a systemwide Tuition Stability Plan to help students manage the escalating cost of higher education, helped create the UC Native American Opportunity Plan which makes college more accessible for California's Native American students, and established a systemwide Office of Civil Rights to protect students across the UC system.

Under his watch, students from underrepresented groups in higher education now constitute 32 percent of the UC system's total undergraduate enrollment and Latino student enrollment is up five percent in fall of 2023 shared the University of California system in a press release about the announcement.

Dr. Drake previously served as the 15th president of the Ohio State University from 2014 through June of 2020 and prior to that served nine years as chancellor of UC Irvine and five years as the UC system's vice president of health affairs.

After receiving his A.B. from Stanford University and his M.D. and residency training at UCSF, Dr. Drake worked for more than 25 years as a faculty member at the UCSF School of Medicine and holds faculty appointments at the UCSF School of Medicine as a professor of ophthalmology, at the UC Riverside School of Medicine as a professor of medicine, and is a distinguished professor of ophthalmology at the UC Irvine School of Medicine.

He has also chaired the boards of six national higher education organizations including the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, the Association of American Universities, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the Association of Academic Health Centers.

"It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as president of the University of California these past several years, and I am immensely proud of what the UC community has accomplished," said Drake. "At every turn, I have sought to listen to those I served, to uphold our shared UC values, and to do all I could to leave this institution in better shape than it was before. I’m proud to see the University continuing to make a positive impact on the lives of countless Californians through research, teaching, and public service."

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