Mark Yudof was described as the right person at the right time to lead the University of California system.
The 63-year-old is currently the chancellor of the University of Texas. The UC Board of Regents voted unanimously for Yudof.
"It's just a fabulous university system and I guess I just felt it would be great fun if we had one more mountain to climb," said newly elected UC president Mark Yudof.
He will earn $591,000 dollars a year. He'll also receive a yearly supplemental pension benefit averaging $241,000 for the first seven years.
The compensation package includes a car allowance and he will live at the Blake House in Kensington paid for by the university system.
The Chairman of the UC Board of Regents, Richard Blum said Yudof is the top administrator of higher education today.
"It's lucky for Senators Clinton, Obama and McCain that he only wants the job as President of the University of California," said Richard Blum, Chairman of the UC Board of Regents.
Yudof served as chancellor of the University of Texas System for nearly six years.
Here are some comparisons:
The UC system has 10 campuses and five medical centers; Texas has nine campuses and six health institutions.
There are 220,000 students enrolled in the UC system, Texas has 185,000.
UC has an $18 billion dollar budget, Texas $10 billion dollars.
As president of the UC system, Yudof faces a year of budget cuts and flat revenue.
"There will be a budget crisis, there will be morale crisis and there are always crises. And if you are big enough anything that can happen eventually will happen somewhere in a large system. But my strong feeling is it will all work out," said Yudof.
The current president Robert Dynes will retire in June after nearly five years on the job. Dynes was heavily criticized for a pay scandal that rocked the UC system.
In 2005, it was revealed that UC's top employees collected more than $300 million in bonuses, and relocation packages.
Yudof met on Thursday morning with the President of the UC Students Association.
"He said that he is probably going to keep our tuition fees as close as this year's as possible, and we hope that he stands that commitment, and actually finds real solutions and ways to have that happen, as opposed to being something that we talk about," said Louise Hendrickson, President of the UC Student's Association.
One of the things that Yudof did best while at Texas was increase the endowment funds. In the six years that he was there, it doubled to more than $15 billion dollars – fifth in the nation. UC's endowment is $8 billion.
Yudof will take over the UC system in September.
