Chancellor Bishop Issues His Final UCSF Annual Report

Chancellor Michael Bishop

In his final UCSF annual report, Chancellor Mike Bishop, MD, on Tuesday thanked the campus community for their service, saying that “we succeed much more often than we fail, and in doing so, we set an example that is admired around the globe.” Bishop, who has led the University for the past 10 years, announced last October that he plans to step down from his post, effective June 30, 2009. Bishop guided UCSF through one of its most expansive periods of growth and achievement, which included developing the Mission Bay campus from the ground up, establishing innovative research programs and garnering record philanthropic support. Bishop will continue to serve on the UCSF faculty as a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and as director of the G.W. Hooper Foundation, a biomedical research unit at UCSF. In his nine-page annual report, Bishop noted that UCSF continues to lead the nation in stature, as measured by yearly US News and World Report rankings, support from the National Institutes of Health and other indicators. He also gave a few examples of academic initiatives, efforts to enhance faculty life, improvements to student services and plans for new facilities. His entire annual report is posted on the chancellor’s website (pdf). Bishop concluded his message with these words: “I may not have known what to expect of the chancellorship, but I thought I knew UCSF well after thirty years on the faculty,” he wrote. “I was wrong about that. The last ten years have revealed many facets of UCSF that I had not previously encountered, each of which contributes to our prowess as a place of discovery, learning and healing. And I have met numerous individuals whose commitment to UCSF and pride in working here are remarkable. There are many more like them whom I have not met and — to my great regret — will now probably never meet. “I am occasionally asked what I have liked most about the job of chancellor. My inevitable answer is ‘the people,’ both those with whom I have worked directly and those countless others whom I could only admire from a distance or in passing. I thank you all for your service to UCSF, and for helping to make my experience as chancellor both stimulating and gratifying. Happy New Year!”