UCSF’s Desmond-Hellmann: Not ‘the biotech chancellor’

May 8, 2009

The Susan Desmond-Hellmann era at UCSF begins Aug. 3.
Dr. Desmond-Hellmann, the former president of product development at biotech powerhouse Genentech Inc., was formally approved Thursday by the University of California Board of Regents as the next chancellor of UC, San Francisco. Pledging not to be known as “the biotech chancellor” but a champion for all segments of the school, Desmond-Hellmann, 51, will be the first woman UCSF chancellor and the first with a for-profit background.
She replaces Dr. J. Michael Bishop, a Nobel laureate who is stepping down June 30 after more than 11 years in UCSF’s top post. Bishop will remain a member of the UCSF faculty and will maintain a lab there.
Desmond-Hellmann’s base salary will be $450,000, approved by the regents on the same day they voted to raise student fees by 9.3 percent, or $750 for in-state graduate academic students.
Desmond-Hellmann faces a handful of challenges, not the least of which are replacing much of UCSF’s retiring executive team, hiring a medical school dean and increasing private philanthropy during an economic downturn.
“I expect to be out there,” she said. “People will know what the university needs and what it means and how they can contribute. … I think you’ll see more of me.”