UC Berkeley Press Release
International investment banker Frank Yeary joins UC Berkeley as new vice chancellor
BERKELEY – University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau today (Monday, June 16) announced the appointment of leading international finance banker and UC Berkeley alumnus Frank D. Yeary as a new vice chancellor.
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Yeary will guide major strategic initiatives, specifically spearheading the development of a long-range financial plan to help the campus develop and manage a more stable, reliable funding strategy. He will also provide international financial expertise in global research and education partnerships, and he may teach classes at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
"The critical purpose for bringing Frank Yeary into this position is to strengthen our financial position through strategies that blend public and private support and that take advantage of opportunities, partnerships and alliances," said Birgeneau.
"State funding can be volatile, as this year has dramatized. It is vital that we have the capacity to navigate through such wild swings in our funding base. Frank brings the kind of unique and high-level expertise that will help us guarantee we can serve the people of California at the level they deserve," said Birgeneau.
Yeary, 44, will begin at UC Berkeley in mid-August, leaving his current position as a managing director for Citigroup Corporate Investment Bank.
He returns to his alma mater, where he received his B.A. in economics and history in 1985, to assume a vice chancellorship that has been created to take advantage of his expertise. Yeary, who has been a member of the Berkeley Foundation Board of Trustees since 2001, has offered to donate, through a formal gift agreement, his $200,000 annual salary to fund a needs-based scholarship program designed to bring especially talented undergraduate students from throughout California to the Berkeley campus.
"I have been fortunate to have enjoyed tremendously my work in international finance for more than 20 years, and I now enthusiastically look forward to joining the leadership team at one of the world's finest universities," said Yeary.
"I see clearly both the challenges and the opportunities that Berkeley is facing today as it works to build upon the level of excellence that its name has come to represent, and I feel I can help a great deal in this critical strategic effort. I am honored to have been asked to transfer many of the skills and relationships I have developed as an investment banker to my new role in public education," he said.
As vice chancellor, he will work closely with Nathan Brostrom, UC Berkeley vice chancellor for administration, in developing long-range financial plans and creative financial strategies to support the campus's capital plan and infrastructure needs, and in working to increase UC Berkeley's interactions with countries around the world.
"As we continue to work more collaboratively on international partnerships, his network and negotiating skills will prove invaluable," said Birgeneau. "Right now, we have faculty and students working on designing and developing new, modern cities in China and India. With his expertise, we can expand the opportunities for faculty and students to bring their talents and expertise to bear on solving problems and driving innovation around the globe."
Yeary will also work in close partnership with the highest levels of campus leadership across the organization on other major initiatives, including supporting the UC Berkeley Foundation's management of the campus's endowment.
Yeary is a fourth-generation California native who grew up in the Pasadena area. After graduating from UC Berkeley, he moved to New York City and started his investment banking career. He has more than 20 years' experience in international finance. He originally joined the Citigroup predecessor company, Salomon Brothers Inc., in 1990 and worked prior to that at Lehman Brothers.
He and wife, Lesley, have six children and will relocate to the San Francisco Bay Area from New York.
In addition to his annual base salary of $200,000, which he will donate to the campus, Yeary will receive a standard benefits package and is eligible to receive the University of California's Senior Management Supplemental Benefit Program. His appointment is for three years, renewable on an annual basis by mutual agreement.
Additional details about his compensation are available at the UC Regents' salaries and compensation Web site.