On his first day on the job, a message from Chancellor Rich Lyons

“What makes Berkeley Berkeley is our reach, our ability to meet every challenge and seize every opportunity from every angle imaginable,” Lyons says.

By Public Affairs

July 1, 2024

Today, UC Berkeley welcomes its new Chancellor, Rich Lyons, who is poised to usher in a new era of growth and excellence for the world’s preeminent public research university. Watch a message from Chancellor Lyons to the campus community below.

With more than 30 years of experience serving the Berkeley community, Lyons begins his tenure as a local leader. After earning a bachelor’s degree in business and finance from Berkeley in 1982, Lyons earned a doctorate in economics from MIT in 1987. He returned to Berkeley as a faculty member in 1993, then became dean of the Haas School of Business in 2018 and the campus’s first-ever director of innovation and entrepreneurship in 2020.

In the welcome message above, Chancellor Lyons describes how his time at Berkeley shaped his approach to leadership and how his principles of community will guide him in his future.

“I’m here to serve the entire university,” he said. “What makes Berkeley Berkeley is our breadth, our ability to meet every challenge and opportunity from every angle imaginable.”

“Our combination of access and excellence occupies a truly unique place in higher education,” Lyons continued. “That uniqueness is an opportunity to make a greater mark on society and to make our capabilities even more widely understood around the world. We can make UC Berkeley THE “It’s a university of choice for faculty, staff and students who want to make an impact. That’s my goal.”

Lyons’ tenure as chancellor follows the retirement of Carol Christ, who spent seven years guiding Berkeley through social and political turmoil while making historic progress on issues critical to the university’s future.

Below, watch an additional message from members of the Berkeley community welcoming Lyons to his new role.