After an eight-year tenure fraught with controversy,
outspoken UC Regent John J. Moores unexpectedly resigned from his position on
Nov. 12.
did not provide any reason for his departure, nor did he give the UC Board of
Regents advance notice of his plans to leave, UC Office of the President
spokesman Trey Davis said.
Appointed in 1999 by former Gov. Gray Davis, Moores resigned
more than a year before his 10-year term would have come to an end.
Moores’ relationship with fellow regents was historically
rocky, dating back to a 2003 report where he lambasted the university for
allegedly circumventing Proposition 209, which bans California public schools
from using race and ethnicity in admissions decisions. He went on to lead an
unsuccessful fight to ban research funded by tobacco companies at the
university last year, which the regents rejected 14-4 on Sept. 20.
Former Regent Ward Connerly, Moores’ ally in the Proposition
209 battle, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that his friend had been
frustrated with delayed efforts to restructure the university’s much-criticized
operations.
“If he felt it was a productive use of time, he would still
be there,” Connerly said.
Earlier this week, UC President Robert C. Dynes issued a
brief statement that praised Moores for his various accomplishments and service
to the university. Specifically, Dynes mentioned Moores’ role in developing
StatFinder, an online tool released in October that provides detailed
information about UC admission statistics.
“John Moores has been a generous philanthropist both at the
university and beyond, he has been actively engaged on issues of interest to
him at the Board of Regents and he has worked to improve public access to data
regarding student admissions at the university,” Dynes said.
Apart from his career as a regent, Moores is the owner of
the San Diego Padres, as well as the chairman of investment firm JMI Services,
Inc. and the Carter Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the
preservation of human rights. UCSD’s Rebecca and John Moores Cancer Center was
renamed in his honor after he and his wife donated $20 million in 2001.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will nominate a successor to
complete the remainder of Moores’ term, which will expire in March 2009. A date
for the appointment has not yet been announced.
