BERKELEY, Calif. _ University of California, Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks announced Tuesday he will resign, a move that follows months of criticism by faculty and others over his handling of sexual misconduct cases, a major budget deficit and other campus issues.
Dirks, who took the reins of the nation's leading public research university in 2013, did not dwell on reasons for stepping down but said he would stay until a successor is in place.
"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," he said in a statement.
UC President Janet Napolitano accepted his resignation, expressed appreciation for his efforts and said a committee would be formed immediately to launch a global search for a new chancellor.
"We seek nothing less than an individual of the highest caliber to lead Berkeley, widely and correctly regarded as the finest public research university in the world," Napolitano said. "UC Berkeley and the University of California deserve nothing less."
Dirks' resignation has been long sought by many faculty members, who were close to holding a vote of no confidence in him in the spring. One faculty member said another vote would surely be taken in the fall unless he resigned first.
His problems mounted last month, when it was disclosed that he was under UC investigation for alleged misuse of public funds and the personal use of a fitness trainer without payment.
"There was just a complete collapse of faculty confidence in him, almost across the board," said one UC source who was not authorized to comment publicly. "There was a sense he was ill-equipped to deal with the challenges, he was in over his head as CEO and he didn't really get what Berkeley is all about."
Asked by the Los Angeles Times last month whether he intended to resign, Dirks declined to respond, saying, "I will continue to meet with faculty, staff and students in order to hear and understand their concerns; to explain how these concerns are being addressed; and to build consensus and support for promoting Berkeley's long-term aspirations."
In recent weeks, however, pressure for him to resign escalated in a campaign led by previous Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and his then-Provost George Breslauer, two UC sources confirmed. Tension particularly rose after Dirks went public in January with Berkeley's $150-million budget deficit, announcing that sweeping changes would be needed to close the gap.
One cause of the deficit, Dirks said at the time, was the campus' extensive construction program _ much of which took place under Birgeneau, the sources said.
"It really came to a head with a lot of people in leadership positions in the past, especially the old chancellor and his provost and others who were not happy the new administration was pointing out problems about decisions made by them," one of the sources said.
Birgeneau denied that he pushed for the resignation or was irked by Dirks' budget deficit presentations. He said he has been focused on his undergraduate teaching, research and other campus endeavors.
"Chancellor Dirks never discussed with me the possibility that he might choose to resign," Birgeneau said in an email. "It is a sad day for Berkeley."
Breslauer was not immediately available for comment.
Dirks is the second UC chancellor to resign this month. Last week, Linda Katehi stepped down as chancellor of the University of California, Davis after Napolitano announced that an independent investigation found that she had violated several university policies, showed poor judgment and had misled her superiors, students and the public.
Dirks, a history and anthropology professor specializing in South Asia, previously served as executive vice president for the arts and sciences and dean of the faculty at Columbia University.
