UC Berkeley Chancellor Plans to Step Down in 2024

• University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor Carol Christ will step down and retire at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year.
• Christ has served as chancellor since 2017.
• There will be a nationwide search for her replacement led by the UC Office of the President.

Carol Christ, chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, announced she will retire at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year, according to her June 15 message to the community.

"It is with decidedly mixed feelings that I am writing to let you know I will be stepping down and retiring next summer, at the end of June 2024," Christ said. "My time in office has been meaningful and rewarding beyond compare, and I will sorely miss the challenges, the opportunities, and the daily interactions with the members of Cal's amazing extended family."

Christ has a long history with Berkeley, serving in faculty and administrative positions for 32 years, according to the university. In 2002, she moved to Massachusetts and served as president of Smith College, returning to California in 2015 to direct Berkeley's Center for Studies in Higher Education.

Christ was named interim executive vice chancellor and provost in 2016 before being selected as Berkeley's 11th chancellor in 2017.

Christ said she did not expect to stay in her position as long as she did, but she remained at Berkeley to assist with the pandemic response.

"What I, or anyone else, never expected was a global pandemic that descended quickly upon the world and had the effect of slowing everything down, including our university's most important efforts and endeavors. I simply could not imagine parting ways with so much left to do."

In her last year, Christ says she wants to focus on key initiatives and projects, including fundraising for the university, a new academic building, and student housing.

A national search is set to take place to find Christ's successor, led by the UC Office of the President.

"Whoever that may be, I will surely share with them what a wonderful privilege it is to serve and lead this campus, to have an opportunity to further fortify and evolve our incredibly strong and vibrant university, to be a part of a community unlike any other. There is no place I would ever rather be," Christ said in her message.