EDITORIAL: Chancellor's vision was just what Valley needed

Published online on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009

The newest University of California campus in Merced needed a leader with a vision for what the campus could become and someone who understood the many political hurdles standing in the way of a successful opening. Dr. Carol Tomlinson-Keasey stepped into that role and slowly won over some of the campus' biggest critics.

Dr. Tomlinson-Keasey, who died Saturday of complications related to breast cancer at age 66, was UC Merced's first chancellor. But that doesn't come close to covering the actual job description.

She lobbied lawmakers for funding and petitioned federal agencies for wetlands permits on the campus at Lake Yosemite. She hand-picked professors and persuaded donors that their money would lay the foundation for a great university. She criss-crossed the San Joaquin Valley many times to rally residents behind a UC campus that the region could finally call its own.

At the heart of her commitment to UC Merced was her intense belief that a university must be about the students. She challenged the first students to be pioneers, and set a tone of excellence that would carry through to succeeding classes of students.

Finally in the fall of 2005, UC Merced opened. Dr. Tomlinson-Keasey had pulled together a 21st century campus. She did all this while quietly battling breast cancer.

The Fresno Bee's editorial board met with her many times as the campus was coming together and then as she began talking about how UC Merced could host a medical school that could help meet the health needs of the Valley.

Dr. Tomlinson-Keasey was committed to improving this region, even though she only came here because of her initial UC assignment.

There may have been others in the UC administration who could have done a good job in getting the Merced campus built and open for students. But we know the job that Carol Tomlinson-Keasey did, and the entire Valley is better for the time she spent here.