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Nicholas Dirks announced Tuesday that he is stepping down as chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, after only three years in the position. A statement from the university quoted him as saying, “I have come to the personal decision that the time is right for me to step aside and allow someone else to take up the financial and institutional challenges ahead of us.”
The Los Angeles Times noted that his resignation comes amid increased faculty frustrations with his leadership. In addition, Dirks is facing an inquiry into alleged misuse of public funds through personal use of a fitness trainer without payment. Dirks has faced numerous criticisms of the university's handling of sexual harassment allegations -- and he had vowed to improve the way Berkeley responds.
Dirks also started a process to seek out a new financial model for the university in an era of constrained state support.
