The Pursuit of Knowledge

by Atkinson, Richard C.

• ISBN13: 9780520251991
• ISBN10: 0520251997
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-04-16
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Richard C. Atkinson's eight-year tenure as president of the University of California (1995-2003) reflected the major issues facing California itself: the state's emergence as the world's leading knowledge-based economy and the rapidly expanding size and diversity of its population. As this selection of President Atkinson's speeches and papers reveals, his administration was marked by innovative approaches that deliberately shaped U.C.'s role in this changing California. These writings tell the story of the national controversy over the SAT and Atkinson's successful challenge to the dominance of the seventy-five-year-old college entrance examination. They also highlight other issues with national significance: U.C.'s experiments with race-neutral admissions programs; the challenges facing academic libraries and the University's pioneering activities with the California Digital Library; and the University's involvement in new paradigms of industry-university research. Together, these speeches and papers open a window on an eventful period in the history of the nation's leading public research university and the history of American higher education.

Author Biography

Richard C. Atkinson is President Emeritus of the University of California.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Editor's Note	p. xiii
A Brief History of the Atkinson Presidency	p. 1
Seventeenth President
Remarks on Receiving the University of Chicago Alumni Medal	p. 11
The Golden Fleece, Science Education, and U.S. Science Policy	p. 16
Remarks on Appointment as President of the University of California	p. 33
The University of California
The Future of the University of California: A Personal View	p. 39
The Role of the President of the University	p. 54
Robert Gordon Sproul	p. 59
Tradition at the University of California	p. 63
Diversity: Not There Yet	p. 70
The Research University and Its Responsibilities
The Numbers Game and Graduate Education	p. 77
Opportunities for Chinese and American Universities in the Knowledge-Based Economy	p. 86
The Globalization of the University	p. 99
Academic Freedom and the Research University	p. 113
A New World of Scholarly Communication	p. 129
Achievement Versus Aptitude
Standardized Tests and Access to American Universities	p. 137
The California Crucible: Demography, Excellence, and Access at the University of California	p. 149
Statement on the Vote by the College Board Trustees to Revise the SAT I	p. 163
College Admissions and the SAT: A Personal Perspective	p. 165
Farewell Remarks to the Board of Regents	p. 180
Regents' Resolution in Honor of Richard C. Atkinson	p. 190
Index	p. 195
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