David Mertes, who led the nation's largest collection of colleges through massive social changes and numerous political mine fields, will resign June 30 as chancellor of the California Community College system.
The 65-year-old former high school teacher, college professor, community college president and biochemical embryologist, said he has had "basic differences" with his bosses, the 16-member Board of Governors.
Board members, several of whom have criticized Mertes privately but refused to discuss their troubles with him on the record, have already launched a nationwide search for his replacement.
Changing Times
"Times have changed and we need to change," said board president Vishwas More, a retired engineer who headed the Lawrence-Berkeley research laboratory at the University of California-Berkeley.
"I don't want to criticize [Mertes] but you always want to look for someone stronger and better," More added. "What he did was fine, but we need someone with a vision for the next century."
Mertes has held the chancellor's post for eight years--the second longest tenure in state history--and has contended with daunting obstacles along the way, ranging from attacks on affirmative action to California's crumbling economy.
Nevertheless, he drew praise from community college officials across the country for helping to mold California's system -- with its $3 billion budget, 71 districts and 1.4 million students -- into a national model for others.
"David Mertes is a class act." says David Pierce, president of the American Association of Community Colleges. "He presided over very challenging times in California. I have always admired him."
The "Sacramento Bee." in an editorial lamenting Mertes' resignation, said that largely because of the chancellor's work, "the community colleges outshone the four-year institutions" in California.
Mertes says the past six years "have been very, very difficult, primarily because of the inability of the state to fund any of its services at an appropriate level due to a major recession."
