What other campus leaders are saying

Bahar Navab, a Graduate Assembly vice president:

“Claude will be a bold change agent for helping us improve faculty and student diversity, improve professional development for graduate students and find new funding streams.Together with Chancellor Dirks, I think he can help push Berkeley to the next level as a public research university.”

Betty Deakin, chair of Berkeley’s Academic Senate:

“Professor Steele is an experienced and savvy administrator and top-flight scholar. His commitment to public education is strong, and he is an effective advocate for diversity in all its forms. The Academic Senate looks forward to collaborating closely with him on the shared governance of the university.”

Mike Williams, trustee, UC Berkeley Foundation:

“How wonderful in these times that we were able to attract such a stellar administrator and scholar — someone who is uniquely suited to address the challenges and tackle the opportunities that are before this great university.”

Steve Martin, dean, Division of Biological Sciences, College of Letters and Science:

“Claude Steele was the unanimous first choice of the committee, which was impressed by his deep understanding of current issues in higher education. He is a distinguished scholar whose work on stereotype threat, and his influential book on the subject, Whistling Vivaldi, have had a profound effect on efforts to improve the academic performance of minority students. In addition he has extensive experience in academic administration. His recruitment is a real coup for Berkeley.”

Janet Broughton, vice provost for the faculty:

“As a member of the search committee, I am thrilled by the outcome of the search process. In Claude Steele, Berkeley will have an exceptionally distinguished scholar and academic leader as its new EVCP.”

Anne DeLuca, associate vice chancellor, admissions and enrollment:

“Professor Steele’s stellar reputation as a scholar who cares deeply about the conditions that encourage female and minority scholars to excel aligns with Berkeley’s tradition of educating thousands of diverse students each year. His prior experiences at two of our peers — Stanford and Columbia — will allow him to embark in this new role at Berkeley with a firm grasp of our issues and challenges, and will support us as we continue to excel as a global leader in higher education.”