San Diego colleagues say they will miss Chodoros

and Andrew Rafalaf Administrators and faculty from the University of California at San Diego said yesterday they will miss Dean of Arts and Humanities Stanley Chodorow, who will leave the school to become the University's next permanent provost. But the seven students from various campus organizations who were contacted last night each said they had never heard of Chodorow. President-elect Judith Rodin announced Chodorow's appointment, effective July 1, at a press conference in Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge Wednesday. Chodorow, who also serves as UCSD associate vice chancellor and a medieval history professor, was praised for his administrative skills, his teaching and his devotion to the improvement of education. "Stan Chodorow is a distinguished scholar, an innovative teacher and a first-class administrator," UCSD Chancellor Richard Atkinson said Wednesday night. "It is hard to find people who so effectively combine these qualities." While Chodorow's departure was lamented by his peers, Atkinson and others from UCSD expressed pride over Chodorow's most recent accomplishment. "We've all enjoyed working with him and we are very sad to see him go," UCSD History Department Chairperson Michael Bernstein said. "We are very happy for him -- our loss is your gain." Chodorow's colleagues also reflected on his dedication to higher education. "[Chodorow] has been the front runner on the campus for improving and monitoring education," Marjorie Caserio, vice-chancellor of academic affairs, said. "He is like a ball of energy." Because of his success as a professor, Chodorow became the first dean of arts and humanities when the deanship system was created in 1983, UCSD Associate Chancellor Tracy Strong said Wednesday. Strong offered a number of examples of Chodorow's repeated commitment to the academic lives of students. "When [our] fifth college came on line, he was intricate in setting it up," Strong said. "He was not only terrific in setting it up, he did marvelously well as a teacher and as an administrator." Strong also noted Chodorow's involvement in the maintenance and expansion of the Theater Department, as well as the on-campus Lahoya Playhouse, which he said won a Tony Award for best regional theatre. Strong also gave full credit to Chodorow for the success of the Judaic Studies Program, which he said now has three of the top scholars in the country. Many, including Bernstein, were also quick to compliment Chodorow's teaching skills and his close relationship with his students. Bernstein said Chodorow was rated highly as a lecturer and was "very involved in the introductions of new teaching techniques." Graduate students who have worked with Chodorow remain loyal to their mentor, Bernstein added. The UCSD students who were contacted last night said medieval history was a "very small" section of the history department. UCSD junior Gabriel Speyer said he had "never heard of the guy." "If he's getting a promotion, more power to him even though I don't know who he is," Speyer said last night. "The only people who know him are probably those who took his courses, and the department is really small." UCSD sophomore Tony Lee, who also did not recognize Chodorow's name, said he does not remember "reading anything in our school newspaper about him." Staff members of The Guardian, UCSD's student newspaper, were unavailable for comment last night. In a press release yesterday, Atkinson said all of Chodorow's colleagues wish him well in his future "academic, intellectual and administrative pursuits." "Although he will be sorely missed at UCSD, I am confident that he will make important contributions to academia from his post at Pennsylvania and will excel in the position of provost," Atkinson said.