Chancellor Linda Katehi poses with her former and current graduate student assistants (l to r) Lisceth Cruz and Rosalyn Earl at the She Shares conversations event.

As you may know, this month we celebrate and honor the many contributions of women as part of Women’s History month. The past several weeks, I have been invited to speak at different events and share my personal story. Despite the challenges I’ve faced, I never take for granted the privilege of leading a great university that educates so many outstanding students who – along with our faculty and staff – are making an impact in the world.

My journey has been difficult, but rewarding. Earlier this month, I had an opportunity to speak to a group of women that included

She Shares moderator Karen Breslau talking with Chancellor Katehi about her personal journey in education.

students at UC Davis, as part of the She Shares conversation series.  I was asked what advice I would give to my 18 year-old self. My response was, “Do exactly the same,” and there is not a day that goes by that I think I would want to change anything.

Even as a young girl, I had an interest in science and math. There were no engineers on the small island of Salamis where I grew up and no one I knew had ever gone on to college. It was in middle school that my teachers first encouraged me to attend college because I always did very well in math and I enjoyed it. I was fortunate to have teachers who supported me and helped me. My family moved to Athens so I could attend an all-girls high school that prepared girls for science universities. All my high school classmates excelled in math and science, and so I never imagined that these were fields where women struggled.

I was excited to have the opportunity to go to college, driven by the dream that I could go on and do wonderful things that other people were doing. However, I later found that I was quite unprepared for what I would find in college.

Chancellor Linda Katehi poses with She Shares mentees (l to r) Anabel Muniz, Adriana Arrambide, Lucero Guillen and Amanda Marinac.

When I got to the National Technical University of Athens, I was only one of two women in a program of 189. That first year was very difficult. It was a time of political unrest in Greece and I did not feel welcomed by my classmates. But I was determined to finish. And I did.

Sometimes I wonder where I found the motivation to go from where I was to where I am today. I grew up in poverty and I had aspirations of finding a way to live a better life. I believed strongly that pursuing higher education would be the way for me and, as I look back, I know I chose the right path. So my advice for young women is to believe you can do whatever you set out to do, even under the worst of circumstances, and believe you can do it as well — or better — than anyone else.

UC Davis students ( l and r) Brian Ta and Nathan Woo apply body paint to Dezy Jordan before the Aggies men’s basketball game against Long Beach State.

Thursday night our Aggies debuted on the national stage as our men’s basketball team took on Long Beach State. It was a historic night for our athletics program, our university and for Aggie fans all over the world as the game was televised live on ESPN2. In the days leading up to event, I saw a great deal of pride in our community. Many local businesses put posters up in support of our team and Aggie fans showed up dressed in Aggie blue. Some members of the Aggie Pack even painted themselves blue and gold just before the game.

Chancellor Linda Katehi cheers on the Aggies men’s basketball team.

I felt the energy of the Aggie Pack and all the fans that came out to support our team as I walked in to The Pavilion that night – it was amazing! The sold-out crowd was on their feet the entire game — including myself — and I have to say that it was a very exciting game! The last few seconds were close, and, in the end, our Aggies fell 1 point short, but they gave it their all. I commend head coach Jim Les and our men’s basketball team for an amazing performance.

I invite you to check out photos of the game on the UC Davis Facebook page, including one album of photos by Aggie fans that truly showed just how proud our community was of our team. Go Ags!

Chancellor Linda Katehi gives the State of the Campus address.

Last week, when I delivered my annual State of the Campus address, I reported that UC Davis and higher education has faced many challenges. However, we were also presented with many opportunities, and I am proud to say we have made impressive strides in many areas.

Our faculty continue to be nationally and internationally recognized for their work, and I commend them for their dedication to our students and to the benefits that their research contributes to our society. The issue of faculty workload drew much interest during my presentation. I wasn’t surprised:  It’s an issue that has caused debate in our state and nation. The question of faculty workload is easy for me, unlike the critics, because I’ve spent time in the colleges and departments and I have seen first-hand our faculty’s hard work and dedication. Our focus now needs to be on educating the public, including elected officials, on the wonderful work that is being done at UC Davis because it is clear that not everyone realizes how hard we work and the results. Later this month, Gov. Brown will be attending the UC Board of Regents meeting to discuss this issue.  I look forward to giving you an update.

Other issues that I believe we need to focus more attention on are the cost of a degree and diversity. In California, we are no strangers to the challenges facing public higher education. Our students have had to endure steep tuition increases over the past several years, making access to an affordable education more difficult. To reduce cost for our students, we need to look closely at time to degree. We are exploring the possibility of a three-year degree as a pilot program. UC Davis would work with selected high schools to engage students in college-level work during their senior year, after which the students would attend community college for one year, and then come to our university for the remaining two years.

When it comes to the diversity of our faculty, staff and students, everyone knows we must improve. It is unacceptable that our numbers for Latino and African-American faculty have been stagnant for 17 years.  Diversity is tied to our excellence and our reputation. However, we are putting more young women into the pipeline toward a career in higher education, I am happy to tell you, thanks to our ADVANCE program, which focuses on attracting more women, primarily Latinas, to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In the year ahead, I look forward to giving you an update on our progress in these areas.

Chancellor Linda Katehi poses with her husband Spyros Tseregounis at the Annual Crocker Art Ball.

I often get asked how I’ve been able to successfully balance my roles over the years as a mom, wife and university professor or administrator. First of all, I want to emphasize that it can be done and it can be done well. Second, I have had the support of my husband Spyros as well as my family. While I credit my husband and family’s support for much of my success at balancing my work life, it doesn’t mean that as a single parent it can’t be done. I believe that support can come from a family member, your parents and even your friends.

I initially decided to pursue higher education because of the support I received from my parents – primarily my mother. She played a huge part in my life before I left Greece for the U.S. for graduate school in 1979 and especially after I arrived here and had my own family. During the time that my two children were in school, my mom would come visit us every two years. She learned English and got her driver’s license and she would drive the kids everywhere they needed to go. She did this until both of them graduated from high school.

I remember asking Sypros after we were engaged if he wanted to go the U.S. for graduate school and I was thrilled that he agreed. We got married in July 1980, shortly after we arrived in the U.S. I have to say that the fact that I decided to have a family contributed to so much of my success. Because I had them to give me balance, I could come home after a long day and forget about everything. Without my family, I would not have had enough energy to go through the challenges that I had to overcome to get to where I am today. As you know, not all women choose to have families and careers, but it’s a choice that we have. To me, it was a good choice because I had the support of my parents, husband and children to pursue my love for education.

Chancellor Linda Katehi chats with Filippos Stavrinidis who is a Fullbright Scholar from Greece.

Every year, UC Davis educates some of the brightest minds and we enjoy the privilege of hosting some of the world’s most accomplished scholars. Last week, alongside Provost Ralph Hexter and Vice Provost Bill Lacy, I hosted a reception to honor the international students and scholars who are part of the Humphrey Fellowship and the Fulbright programs. It was also an opportunity to recognize their UC Davis colleagues, mentors and advisors, along with some of our faculty and staff who have been Fulbright Scholars in recent years.

These two U.S. government programs are critical to higher education. They support international scholar exchanges and provide a means for mutual understanding and the sharing of knowledge.

Chancellor Linda Katehi, Provost Ralph Hexter and Vice Provost Bill Lacy pose with the 2012-13 Humphrey Fellows.

The Humphrey Fellowship Program brings accomplished professionals at a midpoint in their careers from designated countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Eurasia to the U.S. for a full year of study and related professional experiences. This year, UC Davis has 11 Humphrey Fellows who arrived in August 2012. They are part of a larger group of 195 fellows from 93 countries who are studying this year at 18 universities across the U.S.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is the largest U.S. international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide. This year, UC Davis ranked No. 1, tied with UC Berkeley and Penn State, as the top producer of U.S. Fulbright Scholars. In addition, we have six scholars, including two who received awards in the Fulbright Distinguished Chairs Program – appointments that are viewed as the most prestigious in the program – who will be traveling abroad for teaching and research positions.

I enjoyed meeting with the fellows and scholars and learning about their home countries and fields of expertise.  It is programs like these that enable us to enhance the UC Davis mission and help us build a global academic community.