Courtesy of UCR.edu UCR Chancellor Raymond
Orbach may work for the DOE.
By Noah Grand
Daily Bruin Reporter
Raymond Orbach, who has served as a UC chancellor longer than
anyone else who currently holds the position, said he expects to
leave UC Riverside to work with the U.S. Department of Energy.
Orbach, who taught physics and was an administrator at UCLA for
30 years, is a finalist for the position of director of the energy
department’s Office of Science, pending President
Bush’s nomination of him, according to a Nov 21
Press-Enterprise article.
If Bush nominates Orbach, the Senate would still have to confirm
the nomination.
“This opportunity comes at a time when I feel the campus
is strong enough to make its own path,” Orbach said in the
Press-Enterprise article.
During his tenure as chancellor, UCR has grown from 8,800
students to 14,400 students, exceeding the UC’s growth
expectations. The university is also the most ethnically diverse
campus in the UC system, said UCR spokesman Jack Chappell.
“Under his leadership, he reached out to high schools and
middle schools and parents of generally underrepresented students
and talked to them personally … about how they need to prepare
themselves for a university education,” Chappell said.
Orbach started teaching at UCLA in 1963. In 1982, he became
provost of the College of Letters & Science. He became
chancellor of UCR in 1992.
“Ray Orbach has made extraordinary contributions to
society as a scholar and an academic leader,” said UCLA
Chancellor Albert Carnesale. “The University of California
community surely would miss him if he were to go to Washington, but
we would take comfort in knowing that he would continue to provide
valuable service to our nation.”
The Office of Science received more than $3.15 billion in
federal funding for the 2001 fiscal year and receives the most
funding for physical sciences, mathematics and computing of any
federal research agency, according to DOE statistics.
Colleagues expect Orbach to succeed in the Office of Science,
though he is 67 years old ““ an age when most consider
retirement.
“It’s hard to imagine Orbach being retired from
anything,” said Letters & Science assistant provost John
Sandbrook, who was assistant chancellor at UCLA when Orbach was
provost.
“No problem was too big for Ray to solve,” Sandbrook
added. “If a miracle happens and the DOE announces while he
is the director that the problem of cold fusion has been solved, I
wouldn’t be surprised.”
If Orbach goes to Washington, UCR Executive Vice Chancellor
David Warren will be named acting chancellor while the UC Office of
the President conducts a nationwide search, Chappell said.