People, Profiles

Carol Christ named director of Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE)

By Public Affairs

UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Claude Steele sent the following message to the campus community today (Monday, Nov. 24):

Dear Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that we announce Professor Emerita Carol T. Christ as the director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE). Director Christ’s appointment will begin on Jan. 1. Carol Christ brings to this position her comprehensive leadership experience, deep knowledge of the Berkeley campus and a forward-looking perspective for the center.

Carol Christ

Carol Christ

Director Christ is a well-respected scholar of Victorian literature who returned to the campus in 2013, after stepping down as president of Smith College. While president of Smith, Director Christ led a strategic planning effort focused on the liberal arts curriculum in the 21st century, increased the diversity and the global reach of the college and built its engineering program.

Carol Christ joined the English faculty at Berkeley in 1970 after receiving her Ph.D. from Yale University. She served as chair of the Department of English, dean of the Division of Humanities (as it was called then), provost for the College of Letters and Science and finally as executive vice chancellor and provost from 1994 until 2000.

We want to thank current CSHE director, Jud King, for his extraordinary service to the center and to the campus. Jud King joined the Berkeley campus 52 years ago, and has had a long and distinguished career as a faculty member and as an administrator. Jud King’s contributions to the university include service as chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering, dean of the College of Chemistry, provost of Professional Schools and Colleges, vice provost for Research – UC Office of the President, provost and senior vice president—Academic Affairs – UC Office of the President, interim director of the Hearst Museum of Anthropology and director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education.  He has served as director of the CSHE since 2004 and steered the center through some of its most challenging years.

We are deeply grateful to Jud King for his years of service and leadership, and are tremendously excited to work with Carol Christ in the future.

Sincerely,

Nicholas B. Dirks, Chancellor

Claude M. Steele, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost