Richard C. Atkinson

Richard C. Atkinson (born March 1929) served as the president of the University of California from 1995 to 2003.

Career overview

Atkinson started out as a professor of psychology at Stanford University, where he worked with Patrick Suppes on experiments in which they tried to use computers to teach math and reading to young children in Palo Alto elementary schools. The Education Program for Gifted Youth at Stanford is a descendant of those early experiments.

Eventually, Atkinson transitioned from research to a career in administration, and went on to serve as Director of the National Science Foundation, Chancellor of the University of California, San Diego, and President of the University of California system.

Atkinson is widely recognized for his scientific, academic, and administrative accomplishments. He has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Education, and the American Philosophical Society. He is past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, former chair of the Association of American Universities, the recipient of many honorary degrees. A mountain in Antarctica, and Atkinson Hall, the home of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology at UC San Diego, are named in his honor.

Research career

After earning his bachelor’s degree at the University of Chicago and his PhD in experimental psychology and mathematics at Indiana University, Atkinson joined the faculty at Stanford University in 1956. Except for a three-year interval at UCLA, he served as professor of psychology at Stanford from 1956 to 1975. His research on mathematical models of human memory and cognition led to additional appointments in the School of Engineering, the School of Education, the Applied Mathematics and Statistics Laboratories, and the Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences. Atkinson’s theory of human memory has been influential in shaping research in the field of experimental psychology. Advances in computer-assisted instruction and methods for optimizing the learning process have been among the more applied outcomes of his theoretical interests.

In 1977, he received the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. According to the citation, he earned this recognition:

“For combining classical methods of mathematics with emerging techniques of computer science, the best traditions of experimental psychology with new concepts of information processing, in the advancement of psychological theory and its applications. His long-term collaboration with Patrick Suppes yielded among its fruits the first extensive application of learning theory to multiperson interactions. With Richard M. Shiffrin, Atkinson developed the model that has set the pace for research on human short-term memory; with James Juola and others he developed an almost equally influential family of models for recognition and search processes. And on a quite different tack, Atkinson anticipated current demands for ‘relevance’ with his pioneering contributions to computer-assisted instruction and optimization of learning.”

National Science Foundation

As as deputy director and director of the National Science Foundation (1975-1980), Atkinson had a wide range of responsibilities for science policy at a national and international level. Among them was negotiating the first memorandum of understanding between the People’s Republic of China and the United States, an agreement for the exchange of scientists and scholars. It became part of a more comprehensive agreement on science and technology between China and the United States signed by Chair Deng Xiaoping and President Jimmy Carter in January 1979.

During Atkinson’s tenure at NSF, skeptics in both Congress and the media mounted frequent attacks on government funding for basic research as little more than subsidizing idle curiosity about trivial topics at the taxpayers’ expense. This trend was aptly symbolized by Senator William Proxmire’s Golden Fleece Awards for waste and fraud in public programs, one of which went to NSF for a study of the sexual behavior of screwworm flies. As NSF director, Atkinson defended this and other projects—whose value Senator Proxmire ultimately acknowledged—as well as the long-term importance of fundamental intellectual inquiry. In the same vein, NSF conducted some of the early studies on the contributions of basic research to productivity and economic growth.

Chancellor, U.C. San Diego

As chancellor of the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) from 1980-1995, he instituted a major administrative reorganization of the campus and began a sustained effort to strengthen UCSD's ties with the city of San Diego. This highly successful effort yielded important dividends in the form of financial and community support, with private giving rising from $15 million to nearly $50 million annually during his chancellorship. Despite a series of tight budgets in the late 1980s, he found innovative ways to fund the construction of new buildings and to support new academic programs. UCSD's increasing academic stature was reflected in its 1982 election to membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities, consisting of 62 of the nation's top research universities. The campus's steady growth in size and distinction was a mark of Atkinson's tenure. UCSD's faculty expanded by nearly 50 percent and enrollment doubled to about 18,000 students. In 1995, the quality of its graduate programs was ranked tenth in the nation by the National Research Council.

During his years at UCSD, Atkinson also followed a strategy of encouraging technology transfer and active involvement with industry, especially with the small, high-technology companies that were springing up around San Diego in the 1980s. The UCSD CONNECT program, self-sustaining but run by UC San Diego Extension, began in 1985. It was successful in helping aspiring entrepreneurs in high-technology fields find information, funding, and practical support on such crucial topics as writing a business plan, marketing, and attracting capital. It also acted as an advocate on public policy issues that affect business. UCSD's outstanding faculty, innovative research, and commitment to industry-university partnerships were major factors in transforming the San Diego region into a world leader in technology-based industries. Atkinson's role in this transformation was noted in a recent study of research universities and their impact on the genesis of high-technology centers (see Raymond Smilor, Niall O'Donnell, Gregory Stein and Robert S. Welborn, III, "The Research University and the Development of High-Technology Centers in the United States," Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 21, No.3, August 2007, pp. 203-222).

President, University of California

Atkinson became the University of California’s seventeenth president in October 1995. His principal goal was sustaining the excellence of UC’s faculty, recognized in several national studies of academic program quality. An equally important challenge was accommodating an additional 63,000 undergraduates—an enrollment increase of forty percent—between 1998 and 2010. UC Merced, the University’s first new campus in forty years, was founded during Atkinson’s presidency.

He also sought to expand the University’s contributions to California’s productivity and economic growth through such efforts as the Industry-University Cooperative Research Program, which supports collaborative research in areas critical to the state’s competitive edge. The California Institutes for Science and Innovation, proposed by California Governor Gray Davis and established at four UC campuses, are aimed at creating the next generation of knowledge in high-technology fields through interdisciplinary research partnerships with industry. Atkinson’s most important task as president, however, flowed from the July 1995 decision by the UC Board of Regents to eliminate racial preferences in admission. Under his guidance, UC embarked on an ambitious partnership with the K-12 public schools to raise the level of academic accomplishment among all California children. Within UC, the Academic Senate and the Regents approved his proposals for several new paths to undergraduate admission that moved UC closer to the comprehensive review of students’ records used by selective private universities. By the end of his tenure, UC was admitting more minority students than it was in 1997, the year before the ban on affirmative action took effect.

Under Atkinson's leadership, the University adopted a new academic freedom policy that clearly defined the central role of the faculty in protecting and promoting the freedom to teach, to do research, and to express and publish views in the context of the modern research university. He established the California Digital Library to expand access to UC's collections and to advance new forms of scholarly communication. UC established several new professional schools and began expanding its graduate enrollments. Enrollment in engineering and computer science—disciplines essential to the high-tech California economy—rose by nearly 70 percent, and total UC enrollment increased by a third, from 150,000 to 202,000 students. The University prospered during Atkinson's tenure. For the first time, private giving reached the billion-dollar mark in a single year, UC's state-funded budget nearly doubled, and federal research funds soared.

peeches and Commentaries

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/TIS_ResearchUniversitiesCoreoftheUSscienceandtechnologysystem1.pdf Research Universities: Core of the U.S. Science and Technology System ] – Paper published in " Technology in Society", Vol. 30, No.1 (January 2008). [http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/ClaremontGraduateUniversityCommencement2007.pdf Commencement Remarks ] - 80th Commencement Ceremony for Claremont Graduate University (05/12/07). [http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/CHINA__RESEARCHUNIVERSITIESANDTHEWEALTHOFNATIONS.pdf Research Universities and the Wealth of Nations ] - A speech presented at the U.S.-China Forum on Science and Technology Policy held on October 15-17, 2006, in Beijing, China (10/16/06). [http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/ChinaRecollections.pdf Recollections of events leading to the first exchange of students, scholars and scientists between the United States and the People’s Republic of China ] - A memorandum describing a US delegation’s visit to China in 1978.

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/San Jose Mercury News Op-Ed 07.23.pdf 'Absurd' studies of science's puzzles prove their worth ] - Opinion piece about the value of social sciences research published in the "San Jose Mercury News" (07/23/06) and other newspapers. [http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/OpportunityinaDemocraticSociety.pdf Opportunity in a Democratic Society: Race and Economic Status in Higher Education ] - This paper was the basis for the Third Annual Nancy Cantor Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Diversity delivered by Richard C. Atkinson on May 18, 2005 at a national conference at the University of Michigan entitled "Futuring Diversity: Creating a National Agenda." Subsequently published in the "Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society", Vol. 150, No. 2 (June 2006).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/SkaggsCharterClassCommencement2006.pdf Commencement Remarks ] - Charter Class of the UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (06/03/06).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/FTTimes053006.pdf Proposed Boycott of Israeli Academics ] - Letter to the Editor of the Financial Times signed by Richard C. Atkinson, President Emeritus, University of California; John Brademus, President Emeritus, New York University; Thomas Ehrlich, President Emeritus, Indiana University; Donald Kennedy, President Emeritus, Stanford University; and David Ward, Chancellor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Madison (05/30/06).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/RCARemarks-DavidSaxonMemorial.pdf Remembering David Saxon ] - Remarks given at President Emeritus David Saxon’s Memorial Service on the UCLA campus (03/14/06).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/LatinoEducationSummit092405.pdf Equity in California Higher Education ] - Speech presented to the Latino Education Summit X in San Diego, California (09/24/05).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/terman_foreword.pdf Richard C. Atkinson’s foreword to the book ] - "Fred Terman at Stanford: Building a Discipline, a University, and Silicon Valley" (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2004).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/ResearchUniversitiesandtheNationsEconomy.pdf Research Universities and the Nation’s Economy ] - Speech presented to the Downtown San Diego Rotary Club (11/18/04).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/RethinkingAdmissions-UK1Final.rtf Rethinking Admissions: US Public Universities in the Post-Affirmative Action Age] - Invited paper at the UK and US Higher Education Finance and Access Symposium, Oxford University (09/29/04).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/CollegeAdmissionsandtheSAT-APersonalPerspective1.pdf College Admissions and the SAT: A Personal Perspective] - Invited address at the annual meeting of the "American Educational Research Association", San Diego (4/14/04). Subsequently published in: A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Observer, Vol. 18, 15-22, 2005.

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/ANewWorldofScholarlyCommunication.pdf A New World of Scholarly Communication ] -Commentary about preserving access to scholarly resources in university libraries, published in The Chronicle of Higher Education(11/07/03).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/farewellremarks.html Farewell Remarks ] presented to the Board of Regents (9/18/03).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/regentsresolution.pdf Regents' Resolution ] in honor of Richard C. Atkinson (9/18/03).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/history.html A Brief History of the Atkinson Presidency ] by Patricia A. Pelfrey (9/03).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/PolicyForum1.pdf Public Sector Collaboration for Agricultural IP Management] - Commentary about intellectual property rights by Richard C. Atkinson and others, published in Science (7/11/03).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/Academic%20Freedom%20Paper%20-%20Web.pdf Academic Freedom and the Research University] - paper published in the "Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society", Vol. 148, No. 2 (June 2004). [http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/UChicagomedal.htm University of Chicago Alumni Medal ] – Remarks on the occasion of receiving the University of Chicago Alumni Medal (6/7/03).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/groundbreaking.htm Stanley Biosciences and Bioengineering Facility ] – Remarks on the occasion of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Biosciences and Bioengineering Facility at UC Berkeley (5/30/03). [http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/apm010prop.pdf Academic Freedom ] - Letter to The Regents informing them of the Academic Council’s review of a proposed revision to the policy on academic freedom contained in the Academic Person Manual, Section 010 (4/23/03).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/postoped.htm Diversity: Not There Yet ] - Opinion piece about UC's experience with the elimination of race and ethnicity in admissions, published by The Washington Post (4/20/03).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/Regents.planning.pdf Letter to the Regents ] regarding enrollment projections and long-range planning (3/3/03).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/valleymerced.html Valley will reap infinite rewards from UC Merced] - Opinion piece about the University of California's 10th campus being built in the San Joaquin Valley, published in The Fresno Bee (11/4/02).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/llnl50an.htm Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 50th Anniversary ] - Remarks on the occasion of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (9/20/02).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/sept11ann.htm Anniversary of September 11 ] - Letter members of the University of California community on the anniversary of September 11 (9/3/02).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/palcourse.pdf English R1A course section ] - Letter to The Regents regarding reading and composition course at UC Berkeley, and [http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/postletter111.pdf Professor Robert Post's analysis ] on issues of academic freedom and responsibility (8/14/02).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/rcacivility.pdf Message at the beginning of the academic year ] - Letter to members of the University of California community regarding the exchange of divergent viewpoints and civil obedience in exercising free speech (8/02).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/http://ucop.edu/news/sat/Atkinson/june27.htm College Board's decision to alter the SAT I ] - Statement on the College Board's new test, which will be in accord with specifications developed by UC's Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (6/27/02)

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/calit2.htm California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology ] - Remarks on the occasion of the groundbreaking ceremony for the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal-IT2) and the Computer Science and Engineering Building in San Diego (5/31/02).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/wacubo.htm The Changing World of College Admissions Tests ] - Speech delivered to the Western Association of College and University Business Officers, San Diego (5/7/02).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/foodsafety.html Food safety first ] - Opinion piece about efforts by the University of California to help ensure the safety and security of the nation’s food supply, published in the San Francisco Chronicle (5/2/02).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/quality.html The Quality of the University of California ] - Text of letter to a UC alumnus concerned about the quality of the University (1/28/02).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/APAAwardforOutstandingLifetimeContributiontoPsychology2002RCA.pdf American Psychological Association Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology 2002).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/achieve.htm Achievement Versus Aptitude in College Admissions ] - Paper based on keynote address delivered at a conference on Rethinking the SAT: The Future of Standardized Testing in University Admissions, in Santa Barbara, 11/16/01. Published in "Issues in Science and Technology", Winter 2001-02 (12/01).

[http://www.ucop.edu/news/sat/welcome.html Rethinking admissions tests ] - Web site with comprehensive information about UC's deliberations on the use of admissions test.

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/case.html The California Crucible: Demography, Excellence, and Access at the University of California ] - Keynote address delivered at the 2001 International Assembly of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, San Francisco (7/2/01).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/testscrs.html UC looks beyond test scores for students ] - Opinion piece about initiatives to expand opportunities for students to achieve admission to UC, published in the "Sacramento Bee"(6/15/01).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/eddtest.html Educational leadership for California ] - Testimony on demand for the education doctorate before the California Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education, Sacramento (6/12/01).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/japanspc.htm The Globalization of the University ] - Keynote address delivered at the inauguration of President Akimasa Mitsuta, Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies, Japan (5/26/01).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/fedr&d01.html Update on Federal Research and Development Expenditures ] - Letter to The Regents of the University of California about a report in the March 16, 2001 issue of "The Chronicle of Higher Education" on the top 100 institutions for federal R&D expenditures in 1998 and 1999 (4/18/01).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/satspch.html Standardized Tests and Access to American Universities ] - The 2001 Robert H. Atwell Distinguished Lecture, delivered at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the American Council on Education, Washington, D.C. (2/18/01).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/satmerc.html Let's step back from the SAT I ] - Opinion piece about elimination of the SAT I examination as a requirement for application to the University of California, published in the "San Jose Mercury News" (2/23/01).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/satbee.html UC takes a look at SAT I's worth ] - Opinion piece about the role of standardized testing and the SAT I in admissions decisions at the University of California, published in the "Sacramento Bee" (2/21/01).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/goalsat5.html A Five-Year Report to The Regents ] - Progress report on goals for the University of California (1/01).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/econoped.html Higher Education Helps Drive the Economy ] - Opinion piece about the partnership between the University of California and California State University systems in contributing to the state's economy, published in the "Los Angeles Times" (10/4/00).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/fedfundg.html Why federal funding for basic research is important ] - Opinion piece about how basic research funding can help maintain our nation's economic strength, published in the "San Diego Union-Tribune" (9/28/00).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/cowanltr.html Dual Admission Proposal ] - Letter to UC Academic Council Chair proposing an alternative path to supplement the University's current admission process. A [http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/dualq&a.html background document ] accompanies the letter (9/20/00).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/davisltr.html Summer Institutes ] - Letter to Governor Davis about the California Professional Development Initiatives, designed to improve teacher quality and student learning in California (9/8/00).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/calwest.htm Commencement Address ] - California Western School of Law, San Diego (4/28/00).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/industry.htm Industry-University Partnerships ] - Letter to The Regents of the University of California about an article in the March 2000 issue of "The Atlantic Monthly" on industry-university partnerships (3/10/00).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/fuarrive.htm The Future Arrives First in California ] - The need to educate record numbers of students, UC's research contributions to California's economy, and the University's initiatives to encourage diversity in a post-affirmative action era, published in "Issues in Science and Technology", Winter 1999-2000.

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/china.htm Opportunities for Chinese and American Universities in the Knowledge-based Economy ] - Paper presented at the China-U.S. Joint Science Policy Seminar, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the first agreement between the People's Republic of China and the United States for the exchange of scientists and scholars, Beijing, China (10/25/99). Published in "Proceedings of First Sino-US Science Policy Seminar (October 24-27, 1999)", edited by Mu Rongping and W. A. Blanpied, Beijing, China: Science Press, 2000.

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/gfleece.html The Golden Fleece, Science Education, and U.S. Science Policy ] - Paper read at the Colloquium Series on the History of Science and Technology, University of California at Berkeley, 10 November 1997, and published in the "Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, "Vol. 143, No. 3" "(9/99).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/sproul.htm Robert Gordon Sproul ] - Sproul's presidency of the University, published in "California Journal" (11/99).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/ucwantcc.html UC Wants More Transfers From Community Colleges ] - Opinion piece about UC's efforts to boost community college-to-UC transfers, published in the "Los Angeles Times" (9/20/99).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/99ucrank.html Letter to the Regents ] regarding the U.S. News and World Report rankings of universities (8/27/99).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/prepare.htm Prepare Now for the Next Wave ] - Opinion piece about the large numbers of students who will seek access to California's colleges and universities in the next ten years, published in the Los Angeles Times (4/14/99).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/teachc.html Teach children to read? Higher education is lending a hand ] - Opinion piece about summer institutes for California's K-12 teachers sponsored by UC and CSU, published in the "San Diego Union-Tribune" (1/14/99).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/alumni.htm A Three-Year Report to Alumni ] - Talk at the fall retreat of the Alumni Associations of the University of California (10/16/98).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/innovati.htm It Takes Cash to Keep Ideas Flowing ] - Opinion piece about the need for public investment in education and research, published in the "Los Angeles Times" (9/25/98).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/traditio.htm Tradition at the University of California ] - Transcript of remarks at The Regents' dinner (9/17/98).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/futureof.htm The Future of the University of California ] - A personal view on the issues and challenges facing the University (revised 9/98).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/after209.html After 209: Now We Must Raise Achievement of K-12 Kids ] - Opinion piece about UC's efforts to support and strengthen K-12 education, published in the "San Jose Mercury-News" (4/10/98).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/rcaadmoped.html Admission to the University of California ] - Opinion piece about the challenges of expanding opportunities for all promising students without regard to race and ethnicity, published in the "San Francisco Chronicle" (4/1/98). Reprinted in the "Los Angeles Daily News," the "Santa Barbara News-Press," and the "Oakland Tribune".

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/comgrd.htm California's Outreach ] - Published in "On Common Ground", the journal of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute (Winter 1998).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/senate98.html Investing in California's Children ] - Transcript of a talk at the California Senate Fiscal Retreat, an annual policy forum for California political leaders sponsored by the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee and the UC California Policy Seminar, Berkeley (1/24/98).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/presrole.html The Role of the President of the University ] - Prepared for UC student newspapers (12/97) .

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/role.html The Role of Research in the University of the Future ] - Address at The United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan (11/4/97).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/libwowalls.html California's Library Without Limits ] - Opinion piece about UC's digital library, originally published in the "San Diego Union-Tribune" (10/14/97).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/http://ucmexus.ucr.edu/ucmnews/commentary%7Eatkinson.htm Binational Development and the Quest for Knowledge ] - Transcript of a talk at the July 1997 ceremony to sign the Agreement of Cooperation with the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) in Mexico City. Also included are remarks by CONACYT's [http://ucmexus.ucr.edu/ucmnews/commentary%7Ebazdresch_parada.htm Director General Carlos Bazdresch Prada ] .

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/partner.html Partnership For Learning ] - Opinion piece about the benefits of a UC education, published in the" San Diego Union-Tribune, "the"Santa Cruz Sentinel, "and the "Davis Enterprise" (6/97).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/aaa1.htm Universities: At the Center of U.S. Research ] - An editorial in "Science "magazine (6/6/97).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/pulli.html Visions and Values: The Research University in Transition ] - The 19th Annual Pullias Lecture, University of Southern California (3/1/97).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/challenge.html Present Challenges of a Research University ] - Transcript of a talk at the conference "University in Transition," University of California, Berkeley (3/97).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/town.html Town and Gown Join Forces to Boost State ] - Opinion piece about UC's research partnerships with industry to ensure the State's economic leadership, published in the "Los Angeles Times" (12/31/96).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/numbers.html The Numbers Game and Graduate Education ] - Address at the Symposium on Graduate Education in the Biological Sciences for the 21st Century, University of California at San Francisco (10/2/96).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/nrcstudy.html UC and the National Research Council Ratings of Graduate Programs ] - Commentary and excerpt from the May/June 1996 issue of "Change "magazine"."

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/science.html The California Solution ] - Keynote Address at the California Coalition on Science & Technology Summit, Sacramento (5/28/96).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/commonw.html UC and California's Future ] - Address at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco (5/2/96).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/bush.html High Stakes for Knowledge ] - Opinion piece about the importance of funding university research, published in the Los Angeles Times (4/28/96).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/ag1.html America's Great Success Story -- The Land-Grant University, ] - "California Agriculture "magazine (3/96).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/product.html How to Improve U.S. Productivity, ] - Opinion piece about investing in university research and development to ensure continued intellectual and economic productivity, published in the San Francisco Chronicle (3/4/96).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/senate.html Universities and the Knowledge-based Economy ] - Transcript of a talk by President Richard C. Atkinson at the California Senate Fiscal Retreat, an annual policy forum for California political leaders sponsored by the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee and the UC California Policy Seminar, Berkeley (2/3/96).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/divers.html UC Is Unwaveringly Committed To Diversity ] - Opinion piece about UC's efforts to achieve diversity following the decision to end the use of race and gender factors in admissions, published in the "Los Angeles Times"(11/13/95).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/nrc.html Report to the Regents on the National Research Council's Study of Ph.D. Programs that ranked more than half of UC's 229 programs in the top 20 ] (10/11/95)

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/newpres.htm Remarks of Richard C. Atkinson ] - Remarks to The Regents of the University of California on the occasion of being appointed president (8/18/95).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/rufuture.html The Future of the Research University ] - Reprinted from "Reinventing the University: Proceedings of a Symposium held at UCLA" (6/23/94).

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/equil.html Equilibrium in the Research University ] - Published in "Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning", co-authored with Donald Tuzin, professor of Anthropology, UC San Diego (May/June 1992). This article is available in standard [http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/equil.html .html ] or in [http://rca.ucsd.edu/comments/Equilibrium.pdf Adobe Acrobat ] .

[http://rca.ucsd.edu/speeches/APADistinguishedScientificContributionAward1977RCA.pdf] - American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Contribution ] (1977)

Personal life

Atkinson is married to a fellow psychologist, Rita, with whom he coauthored a popular textbook. Their daughter Lynn is a retired neurosurgeon.

Influence and Legacy as President of UC

In February 2001, Atkinson announced he was recommending elimination of the College Board's SAT I college entrance examination as a requirement for admission to the University of California. Students, he argued, should be tested on what they had actually achieved academically, not on the basis of “ill-defined notions of aptitude.” Atkinson’s challenge inaugurated a national debate on the relative merits of aptitude versus achievement tests and ultimately led to a major revision of the SAT I. The new SAT I, introduced in 2005, incorporates higher-level mathematics and a written essay to reflect the quantitative and writing skills students need for success in college-level work.

As president, Atkinson had to face some of the most contentious and complex issues in American higher education, from achieving diversity to managing a multi-billion dollar budget greater than that of many states. He will be remembered for his skill in guiding the University into the post-affirmative action age and for the creative and energetic leadership he brought to the nation's most distinguished public university.

In 2005, the unnamed Sixth College at UCSD moved to name the college in his honor. Around April 27, 2005, UCSD students were notified that Dr. Atkinson had withdrawn his name from further consideration as the future namesake of Sixth College. The decision was an abrupt surprise as Atkinson only a week earlier had told "The San Diego Union-Tribune" he would be "honored if the name were approved"ref|UT. Although student reception to the naming proposal was lukewarm, demonstrated opposition was generally meager with only conspicuous organized criticism by opponents desiring a more racially diverse name. The Perry scandal was not the subject of public criticism.

Notes

# Eleanor Yang, "Naming of UCSD school sparks dispute; Sixth College should honor a noted Latino, some say", "The San Diego Union-Tribune", April 18, 2005.

“Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards for 1977,” American Psychologist, January 1978, pp. 49-55.

William J. McGill, “Richard C. Atkinson: President-Elect of AAAS,” Science, Vol. 241, July 29, 1988, pp. 519-520.

Richard C. Atkinson, “The Golden Fleece, Science Education, and US Science Policy,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 143, No, 3, September 1999, pp. 407-417.

“Developing High-Technology Communities: San Diego,” report by Innovation Associates, Inc., for the U.S. Small Business Administration, March 2000.

Patricia A. Pelfrey, A Brief History of the University of California, Second Edition, (Center for Studies in Higher Education and University of California Press, 2004), pp. 78-89.

David S. Saxon, “Foreword,” The Pursuit of Knowledge: Speeches and Papers of Richard C. Atkinson, ed. Patricia A. Pelfrey (University of California Press, 2007), pp. ix-xi

Raymond Smilor, Niall O’Donnell, Gregory Stein and Robert S. Welborn, III, “The Research University and the Development of High-Technology Centers in the United States,” Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 3, August 2007, pp. 203-222.

External links

* [http://www.ucop.edu/pres/atkbio.html Official Biography]
* [http://www.sdreader.com/php/cityshow.php?id=SH112102 "San Diego Reader" account of Perry lawsuit]
* [http://rca.ucsd.edu/ President Richard C Atkinson's Home Page] with more in-depth biographical information.
* [http://online.ceb.com/calcases/CA3/195CA3d14.htm Full text of Court of Appeal opinion] - courtesy of California Continuing Education of the Bar