Michael V. Drake

Michael V. Drake
220px Portrait of Michael Drake at Ohio State
15th President of the Ohio State University
Incumbent
Assumed office June 30, 2014
Preceded by	Joseph A. Alutto
5th Chancellor of the University of California, Irvine
In office July 1, 2005 – June 29, 2014
Preceded by	Ralph J. Cicerone
Succeeded by	Howard Gillman
Personal details
Born	Michael Vincent Drake (1951-07-09) July 9, 1951 New York City, New York
Spouse(s)	Brenda Drake
Residence	Columbus, Ohio
Alma mater	Stanford University University of California, San Francisco
Profession	Physician
Website	Office of the President

Michael Vincent Drake (born July 9, 1951) is an American university administrator and physician. In 2014, he became the current president of The Ohio State University. From 2005 to 2014, he was the chancellor of the University of California, Irvine. While UC Irvine chancellor, Drake controversially fired and rehired legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky as dean of the then-new UC Irvine school of law. At Ohio State, Drake has been criticized for firing band director Jon Waters after a report criticized the band's "sexualized culture."

Early years

Drake grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, until moving with his family to Sacramento, California.

Education

Drake attended Stanford University and UC San Francisco.

Career

Drake was an ophthalmology professor and associate dean at UCSF. He served as Director of Admissions at UCSF medical school and sat on the resident selection committee for the Department of Ophthalmology prior to his appointment at the Office of the President. In 2000, Drake became the University of California system vice president for health affairs, while continuing to hold his long-held appointment at University of California, San Francisco in the department of ophthalmology.

University of California, Irvine chancellorship

In 2005, Drake was appointed as the fifth chancellor of the University of California, Irvine (UCI). He officially began his term on July 1, 2005. His annual $350,000 salary remained unchanged from his previous position as Office of the President, up from $70,000 paid to the previous UCI chancellor. As of 2010 he earned $374,969.32.

Chemerinsky firing and rehiring

Drake's first major firing scandal was to fire the Dean of the UCI law school, Erwin Chemerinsky. On September 20, 2007, Chemerinsky was approved by the Regents of the University of California as the founding dean of the planned University of California, Irvine School of Law, resolving a hiring controversy. After signing a contract on September 4, 2007, the hire was rescinded by UCI Chancellor Michael V. Drake, because he felt the law professor's commentaries were "polarizing"; Drake claimed the decision was his own and not the subject of any outside influence.

The action was criticized by both liberal and conservative scholars who felt it hindered the academic mission of the law school, and few believed Chancellor Drake's claims that it was not the result of outside influence. The issue was the subject of an editorial in The New York Times on Friday, September 14. Details emerged revealing that UCI had received criticism on the hire from the California Supreme Court's then-Chief Justice Ronald M. George, who criticized Chemerinsky's grasp of death penalty appeals, as well as a group of prominent local Republicans, including Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who wanted to stop the appointment. Drake traveled over a weekend to Durham, North Carolina, and the two reached an agreement late Sunday evening.

On September 17, Chemerinsky issued a joint press release with Drake indicating that Chemerinsky would head the UCI law school, stating "Our new law school will be founded on the bedrock principle of academic freedom. The chancellor reiterated his lifelong, unqualified commitment to academic freedom, which extends to every faculty member, including deans and other senior administrators."

Ohio State University presidency

On January 30, 2014, The Ohio State University Board of Trustees named Dr. Drake as the 15th president of The Ohio State University. He began his tenure at the university on June 30, 2014.

Waters firing

Drake's second major firing scandal, at The Ohio State University (OSU), was to fire marching band director Jon Waters. Subsequently, concerns were raised by some regarding the investigation that led to this firing. In addition, Waters has sued for reinstatement, accusing the university, President Drake and a provost of discriminating against him by disciplining him differently than a female employee and denying him due process. To date, Drake has stood by his decision to terminate Waters as marching band director. As of January 2015, the university had spent nearly $1 million in taxpayer-provided funding in defense of the decision and subsequent actions. Invoices requested under Ohio's public records laws were heavily redacted, leading to more questions about what work the university had paid certain firms to perform.

External links

• "UCI’s First Family" Orange County Business Journal

Preceded by Joseph A. Alutto (interim)

Ohio State University President 2014-06-30–present

Succeeded by