Provost is gourmet chef, cyclist

The University's next provost, Stanley Chodorow, may be a medieval scholar, but he's also a Renaissance man. Chodorow is currently the associate vice chancellor for academic planning and dean of arts and humanities at the University of California at San Diego, a school of 17,000 students. His primary responsibilities are academic planning, physical and capital planning, and accreditation. He also oversees seven departments and 15 interdisciplinary programs, which together hold more than 200 faculty members. But Chodorow is also a professional soccer referee, an avid cyclist, a baseball enthusiast and a gourmet chef. Like many University students, Chodorow is a native of New York, born in Queens and raised in Roslyn, Long Island. He attended Cornell University where he earned both a bachelor's degree in government and a doctorate in medieval history. It was as an undergraduate at Cornell that Chodorow met his wife of 31 years, Peggy, who is a successful real estate broker. They have two grown sons. "In California, at least, we live what I'm told is an alternative lifestyle since we are still married," Chodorow joked, demonstrating the quick wit others have noted of him. A Fulbright Scholar, Chodorow joined the UCSD faculty in 1968 after losing out as a finalist for a junior professorship at the University to his colleague and friend, History Professor Edward Peters. This was Chodorow's only connection to the University prior to becoming involved in the provost selection process. Chodorow became a full professor at UCSD in 1978 and the school's first dean of Arts and Sciences in 1983. A medieval legal historian, he said he sees the University as a fundamentally medieval institution. "It is, as it started, a guild of masters," he said. Although Chodorow is soft-spoken, he describes himself as "a hyperactive adult" and characterizes his own leadership style as informal and "superfluid." This energy transfers over to Chodorow's life away from work. Owning three bicycles, he routinely goes on 100-mile bike rides. "I'm a very informal person," he said. "I'm an extremely energetic person. I get real cranky when I haven't exercised." He also said he needs to have quiet time to read each day. But Chodorow is not into mystery novels or current fiction. He said prefers to curl up with an academic or quasi-academic work. "I don't like the television. I hate the television," he said. "Occasionally I'll watch the news, but the news is about now, and what I'm interested in is the 12th century." Chodorow will also sometimes watch a baseball game on television. A self-described "avid sports fan," he has season tickets to the San Diego Padres, seats he will have to give up before coming to the University this summer. "Right now, [having tickets to the Padres] is like a penance. It's like being in purgatory," he said. "I like most sports. I like the Phillies. I like the idea of a decent team." Chodorow, who grew up rooting for the then-New York Giants, said it is important to him that the Phillies are a National League team. "I still have my 1953 Willie Mays Spalding mitt, which I treasure and use when I can," he said. "But I have a profound reaction to the designated hitter rule -- I can't deal with it. I think it is the ruination of the game, so a National League team is important to me." But he criticized the Phillies for playing on artificial turf instead of grass, the surface Chodorow believes is the authentic surface of the game. The next University provost also likes college football and soccer, a sport in which he is a professional referee. Chodorow is an accomplished chef, specializing in Northern Italian cuisine. Always a firm believer that married women should work if they want to, he started cooking when his wife became a real estate broker in the early 1970s and no longer had time to do the grocery shopping for the family. At the University, Chodorow said he plans to teach undergraduates as well as assist in the education of graduate students. He also said he wants to help recruit students, especially from California. Chodorow said he will not be living on campus, but instead will move to whatever area of Philadelphia his wife selects.