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Facilities Services head Ed Denton to retire

By Public Affairs

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UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks announced the retirement of Vice Chancellor Ed Denton, in a message to campus leaders sent today:

I am writing to let you know that Ed Denton, vice chancellor for facilities services since 1998, has informed me that he will be retiring early next year. His last day in office will be Jan. 10, 2014.

Ed Denton

Ed Denton (Peg Skorpinski photo)

Although I have known Ed only since my appointment as Chancellor last November, I am keenly aware that his 15 years as vice chancellor, campus architect and chief building official have left a significant legacy. The Berkeley campus is universally admired for its beauty. Ed has not only maintained the historic splendor of our grounds and buildings, but also enhanced our campus heritage, transforming the campus with magnificent, award-winning new buildings and masterful renovations of existing facilities.

Under Ed’s tenure, 75 percent of our buildings were seismically improved. Through some of the most difficult financial periods in Berkeley’s history, and under the leadership of our two previous chancellors, Ed worked to build and maintain a physical infrastructure to keep Berkeley competitive at the forefront of research and teaching in the 21st century.

Ed has viewed campus design as creating an “ensemble of buildings” to support the university’s mission of teaching, research and public service. Among recent highlights of his legacy are the beautiful C.V. Starr East Asian Library which was designed to complement the loveliness of the classical core of the campus. Stanley Hall, the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences and the Energy Biosciences Institute are outstanding modern research facilities built to support multi-disciplinary research that holds the promise of transforming human health, energy and the environment. The splendid refurbishment of Memorial Stadium and the Simpson Center for Student-Athlete High Performance are a crowning achievement. Ed has also made us leaders in sustainable green building.

When he arrived on campus 15 years ago, Ed implemented a planning process to ensure that the delivery of physical facilities and services on campus was appropriately aligned with our mission. Ed’s retirement is an opportune time to reexamine our structures and processes to ensure that we continue to deliver the best services possible. I will soon share my thoughts about how we plan to proceed.

I want to close by warmly thanking Ed, on behalf of our campus community, for his outstanding service to Berkeley. Public Affairs will be posting a story in the coming days on the UC Berkeley Newscenter about Ed and the many accomplishments of Facilities and Services under his leadership.

Sincerely,

Nicholas B. Dirks
Chancellor