Block on Board

He's a scientist, a scholar, a car lover and a leader. Meet UCLA's new chief executive up close and personal.

By Mary Daily

Published Jul 1, 2007 8:00 AM

Talent and Trust

"Gene loves new ideas," says Marcia Childress, past faculty senate chair at U.Va. "He has a sense of adventure that comes out of his scientific training."

This is reflected in a number of Block's appointments that weren't typical choices. He "taps expertise wherever he finds it," says Leigh Grossman, a medical faculty member whom Block named vice provost of international affairs.

Block says he tries to surround himself with people who are willing to be bold and who demonstrate high integrity.

Carol and Gene Block at the Edythe and Eli Broad Art Center during a spring visit to their new campus home in Westwood

Copyright ©Photo by Dan Chavkin

To address U.Va.'s faculty diversity issues, Block lured Fraser from the Ford Foundation to be vice provost for faculty advancement. "We examined the university's recruitment process," she says. "We looked at what draws someone to U.Va. and what opportunities we weren't pursuing. Gene gave us the resources and interviewed candidates himself. He made the deans our partners in recruitment and held them accountable, without taking a baseball bat to anybody. They trusted him."

One result was the Excellence in Diversity Program, funded by Block's office and by the National Science Foundation, to help primarily underrepresented junior faculty develop lengthy careers at U.Va. Another was online faculty training on recruiting diverse applicant pools and serving on search committees.

The efforts succeeded in "getting more people to yes," Fraser says. Since 2003, the yield rate for African-American candidates who are offered jobs has jumped from 31 percent to 88 percent and, for Hispanic candidates, from 33 percent to 60 percent.

An Honest Broker

When issues demand tough, unpopular decisions, Block holds fast to what's best for the university, says faculty senate chair Ken Schwartz. "And he does it with clarity of purpose, grace and good humor."

In 2002, U.Va. joined Arizona's Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) project, to be built on land that Native Americans claimed was sacred. "We had to weigh the concerns expressed by Native Americans with our scientific interest in the most powerful telescope ever built," Block says.

Block and his colleagues at Virginia helped focus the consortium's attention on Native American issues on Arizona reservations. In Virginia, Block reached out to local tribes on whose ancestral land the U.Va. campus sits. He worked with Virginia Tech to ensure that funding was available for the annual Virginia Indian Nations Summit on Higher Education.

"Gene seemed genuine in asking what U.Va. could do for us," says Karenne Wood, a Monacan Indian and former chair of the tribal council.

People who know Block say he's inclusive, evenhanded, incredibly honest, direct and patient, and they consistently mention his intellect, warmth, optimism and humility.

Always a Teacher

Throughout his years in administration, Block has continued teaching and research. "It's important [for a leader] to stay close to the university's core missions," he says. At UCLA he will hold faculty appointments in physiological sciences and psychiatry, and his NIH-funded research will continue.

"He has not forgotten life in the trenches," Green says. "He understands what faculty deal with. And students love him; he makes difficult concepts simple."

For the past four years, Block has essentially lived with students. In 2003, he and Carol moved into one of 10 pavilions in Jefferson's "Academical Village," in the heart of campus. His two-story, red-brick residence, facing a lush green, is flanked by single-room quarters for students. Porches sport rocking chairs and firewood, and brass name plates identify residents. As Jefferson envisioned, faculty and students interact 24/7.

"He is the ultimate multitasker, incredibly energetic and absurdly hardworking," says Public Policy Professor Eric Patashnik. "He never seems to get tired."

Yet he exhibits "an extraordinary generosity of engagement and gives you his undivided attention," says English Professor Victor Luftig, who has found working with Block a primary perk of U.Va.

Looking West

Block's excitement about UCLA is readily apparent when he talks about the "smart, dedicated and very professional people" he sees here. As chancellor, he plans to focus initially on three areas: the university's relationship to Los Angeles; the diversity of students, faculty and staff; and academic excellence.

For a long time, Block thought that if he were called to head a university, it would be a "fixer-upper," a place that needed lots of help, maybe a restoration. So he's all the more delighted and invigorated to be offered a premier institution like UCLA. After all, the last car he worked on wasn't a clunker. It was a Porsche 911.