Harvard University
Carnesale became a member of the Harvard faculty in 1974, concentrating on the study of international relations, national security policy, and nuclear arms control. In 1981 he became academic dean of the Harvard Kennedy School.[11] A decade later, Carnesale became dean and was charged with restructuring the school, which faced a budget deficit,[12] and served in that post from 1991 to 1995. At the time of Carnesale's appointment, the Kennedy School faced "a debate over its identity," as tension developed between faculty who were professional scholars and those who were practitioners.[13] Carnesale said the solution lay in finding the right balance and respecting each other's contribution.[14]
Provost
In 1994, Carnesale was tapped to fill the role of university provost, where he served until 1997. In that position he coordinated the university's central administration and oversaw academic programs that extended beyond Harvard's individual schools. He was key to the university's $2.1 billion capital campaign and efforts to apply information technology to academic and administrative operations.[15] In November 1994, Carnesale was appointed acting president of Harvard while President Rudenstine was on medical leave due to exhaustion.[2] He served in that position for three months.[3]
University of California, Los Angeles
On July 1, 1997, Carnesale was appointed chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, a position he held until June 30, 2006.
Carnesale arrived at UCLA when the UC system was facing soaring costs and sharp budget cuts. He said the university must remain affordable for all Californians.[16] While chancellor, he wrote and spoke about the "public-private gap in higher education," presenting funding models that could potentially enable public institutions to "remain true to the basic values on which they were founded: excellence and access for qualified students, regardless of ability to pay."[17] Throughout his tenure, Carnesale concentrated on attracting research funding and private gifts to sustain UCLA's trajectory toward the top tier of research universities in the face of declining state support. From 1997 to 2005, UCLA's annual operating budget grew from $2.2 billion to $3.5 billion, while the state's portion shrank from 20.7 percent to 15 percent.[18]
When Carnesale was appointed at UCLA, California's Proposition 209 had just gone into effect, forbidding all state institutions from giving preference in admissions based on race or ethnicity. In May 1998, 88 UCLA students were arrested for refusing to leave a building during a 12-hour non-violent protest, demanding that Carnesale defy Prop 209. He replied that while he supported diversity on campus, he could not ignore Prop 209.[19][20] "I came to this university, knowing that Prop 209 would go into effect on my watch," he said. "I made the decision that it was important to do the best we could within the law, rather than stay at Harvard and not try."[5]
Following the events of September 11, 2001, Carnesale initiated a seminar program named for the university's motto, Fiat Lux, which means "Let there be light."[21] The program of 200 seminars was established to help students understand the events of September 11. The seminars enabled small, interdisciplinary groups of students to explore critical issues with faculty. Carnesale taught a seminar on national security.[22]
As chancellor, Carnesale oversaw the completion of a $3.1 billion fundraising campaign. He also launched the California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI), the Broad Stem Cell Research Institute, the Nazarian Center for Israeli Studies, and the Institute for Society and Genetics. Under his leadership, research funding from competitively awarded grants and contracts doubled, and UCLA formed more than 100 partnerships through Carnesale's "UCLA in L.A." initiative. During this time, the university took major steps toward transformation from a commuter school to a residential campus. From 1997 to 2005, UCLA completed or had under construction new housing for more than 4,600 undergraduate and graduate students.[23] Other additions to the campus included the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, Broad Art Center and new buildings for health sciences, physics, engineering, and CNSI. In addition, Glorya Kaufman Hall, Haines Hall, and the Humanities Building were renovated. Construction began on the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. UCLA Athletics added 23 NCAA titles.[24]
When Carnesale announced that he was stepping down in 2006, he said he had missed teaching and policymaking and that his decision was prompted in part by current events, citing a dearth of people working in national security who had Ph.D.s in fields like nuclear engineering.[25] When he stepped down, he took a year-long sabbatical and then resumed teaching in UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs and Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. In 2013, a new building in the residential portion of the UCLA campus was named Robin and Albert Carnesale Commons in honor of the chancellor emeritus and his wife. The building houses one of the nation's first health-themed dining halls, as well as a fitness hall and multipurpose space.[24]
