Carol Christ | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Christ in 2015 | |
| 11thChancellor of the University of California, Berkeley | |
| In office July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Nicholas Dirks |
| Succeeded by | Rich Lyons |
| 10th President ofSmith College | |
| In office 2002–2013 | |
| Preceded by | Ruth Simmons |
| Succeeded by | Kathleen McCartney |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Carol Tecla Christ 1944 (age 80–81) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Education | Rutgers University, New Brunswick (BA) Yale University (MPhil,PhD) |
| Signature |  |
| Academic background | |
| Thesis | The aesthetic of particularity in the poetry of Rossetti, Browning, and Hopkins (1970) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | English literature |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley Smith College |
Carol Tecla Christ (born 1944) is an American former academic administrator. She served as the 11th Chancellor of theUniversity of California, Berkeley, from 2017 to 2024.
Christ was born inNew York City. In 1966, she graduated with high honors in English fromDouglass College, the women's college atRutgers University. She received anM.Phil. in 1969 and aPh.D. in 1970 in English fromYale University.[1]
In 1970, Christ joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, and was chair of the English department from 1985 to 1988. In 1988, she was appointed dean of humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. She also served as provost and dean of the College of Letters and Sciences. In 1994, Christ was appointed vice chancellor, assistant manager, and provost (and later became executive vice chancellor) at Berkeley. Christ was the highest-ranking female administrator at Berkeley until she returned to full-time teaching in 2000.[2]
Christ became the 10th president ofSmith College in 2002.[2] At Smith, Christ led a strategic planning process to identify the distinctive intellectual traditions of the Smith curriculum and foster initiatives to further develop students' essential capacities.[citation needed] Throughout her administrative career, Christ has maintained an active program of teaching and research. She has published two books:The Finer Optic: The Aesthetic of Particularity in Victorian Poetry andVictorian and Modern Poetics. She also edited a Norton Critical Edition ofGeorge Eliot'sThe Mill on the Floss and co-edited theNorton Anthology of English Literature and Victorian Literature andThe Victorian Visual Imagination. Until recently, she was professor of English at Smith, offering seminars on science and literature and on the arts.
Christ was the president ofSmith College from 2002 to 2013. She announced in May 2012 that she had, along with the Board of Trustees, begun the search for her successor. She retired in June 2013.[3]
In May 2016, Christ returned to her role as Berkeley's Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost (interim), replacingClaude Steele, who stepped down.[4] On March 13, 2017, University of California PresidentJanet Napolitano named Christ as Berkeley's new Chancellor-elect, and three days later, theRegents of the University of California confirmed her appointment.[5] On July 1, 2017, Christ became the 11th Berkeley Chancellor and the first woman to serve in this role, succeeding ChancellorNicholas B. Dirks.[6][5]
At the start of her first academic year as chancellor, Christ responded to the2017 Berkeley protests in which protests against conservative speakers led to violent outbreaks. In a letter to the campus which quotedJohn Stuart Mill, she affirmed the administration's commitment to free speech and urged the community to remember its roots as part of theFree Speech Movement.[7] She later took other steps in this direction which included moderating a panel on free expression and committing $800,000 to providing security for controversial speakers. In a September 2017 interview, she stated that some students find the concept of free speech objectionable.[8]
Christ is a trustee ofCentral European University,[9] served on the board of theConsortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE) and was a trustee ofSarah Lawrence College andDominican University of California.
Christ retired as chancellor in June 2024.[10] She was succeeded by former Haas School of Business deanRichard K. Lyons.
Christ is a member of the Board of Trustees of Rutgers University, her alma mater, having served since July 1, 2024.[11]
Christ was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004[12] and a Member of theAmerican Philosophical Society in 2013.[13] Additionally, she was awarded Yale University'sWilbur Cross Medal in 2007,[14] and in 2011, theAmerican College of Greece awarded her an honorary doctorate.[15]
In 2024 Christ received theClark Kerr Award for distinguished leadership in higher education from theUC Berkeley Academic Senate.[16]
Christ's late husband, Paul Alpers, was a scholar of Renaissance English literature and the founding director of Berkeley's Townsend Center for the Humanities until his death in 2013. She has two grown children, Jonathan and Elizabeth Sklute, from a previous marriage, as well as two grandchildren. She currently lives inBerkeley, California.[17]
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | 10th President ofSmith College 2002–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | 11thChancellor of the University of California, Berkeley 2017–2024 | Succeeded by Richard Lyons designate |
