A Steady Hand

By Mary Daily

Copyright © Photo by Dan Chavkin

After a half-century at UCLA as an esteemed professor and respected administrator, Norman Abrams took on the toughest job of his life, agreeing to be interim chancellor in Westwood. He didn't know that he would be plunged almost immediately into a yearlong series of challenges and crises. But his deft and resolute leadership brought the university through all of them.

Last summer, Emeritus Law Professor Norman Abrams agreed to be acting chancellor of UCLA, provided that he was not expected to be just a caretaker; he wanted to "keep the campus moving forward."

Update

New fellowship honors Abrams (August 6, 2007)

Today, "caretaker" is the last word anyone would use to describe him.

"At first, I said an acting chancellor might not be able to make bold, forward progress on new initiatives," says Engineering Professor Adrienne Lavine, "but I retracted that a long time ago."

Published Jul 1, 2007 8:00 AM