Former Ohio State President Michael V. Drake Appointed for Same Role at California

Former Ohio State President Michael V. Drake hasn't had that title for long - June 30 was his last official day as the leader of the Buckeyes. And as it turns out, his retirement didn't last long.

The University of California announced on Tuesday evening that Drake is the new president of their university system. He is the first Black leader in the university system's 152-year history. There are approximately 285,000 students across 10 campuses in the system.

A warm welcome to UC’s next president, Michael V. Drake, M.D.! Prior to his six years at @OhioState, @OSUPrezDrake’s entire academic career has been at UC, including as faculty at @UCSF, systemwide VP for health affairs and chancellor of @UCIrvine. Fiat Lux! https://t.co/cKuTWzmrTZ
— University of California (@UofCalifornia) July 8, 2020

The job is somewhat of a homecoming for Drake and his family. Prior to accepting the responsibility to lead The Ohio State University, Drake served as the chancellor at University of California, Irvine from July 2005 to July 2014. Drake also fulfilled roles as vice president for health affairs for the UC system and taught for two decade in the UC, San Francisco School of Medicine.

Drake succeeds President Janet Napolitano, who will step down August 1 after serving her role for seven years. He is a graduate of Stanford University and UC, San Francisco.

Even though he had already stepped down from his role at Ohio State, Drake was in Washington D.C. last week addressing a Congressional Committee on the latest Name, Image and Likeness debate, as well as how universities around the country are handling the pandemic.

According to Teresa Watanbe, who broke the story for the LA Times late this afternoon, Drake will "oversee the nation’s most complex public research university system — a $39.8-billion operation of 10 campuses, five medical centers and three national laboratories — as it confronts a global pandemic, financial uncertainty and demands to further diversify campuses and defund UC police."

His appointment was made official at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time this evening after approval from the UC Board of Regents. Drake turns 69 years old on Thursday.

Stay tuned to BuckeyesNow and all of our social media outlets (@BuckeyesNowSI) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for continued coverage!