“The Opportunity Institute has assembled a team of leaders with the intellectual, political, and policy expertise needed to make a real difference. This triple threat, combined with the new, connected approach to policy and social change is bringing something truly unique. The Opportunity Institute’s collaborative, integrated focus on efforts around early childhood, preK-12, and higher education is a need that many organizations have acknowledged, but few have done well. With its established team and efforts, The Opportunity Institute has the real ability to build stronger ladders to success for more individuals and families.”
Mark G. Yudof
University of California President Emeritus; Professor of Law, Berkeley Law
Mark G. Yudof, who served as the 19th president of the University of California from June 2008 through September 2013, is a Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. As UC President, he led a university system with 10 campuses, five medical centers, three affiliated national laboratories, a statewide agriculture and natural resources program, and more than 230,000 students. He served as chancellor of the University of Texas System from August 2002 to May 2008, and as president of the four-campus University of Minnesota from 1997 to 2002. Before that, he served as dean of the law school at the University of Texas at Austin from 1984 to 1994, and as the University’s executive Vice President and provost from 1994 to 1997. President Emeritus Yudof is a renowned authority on constitutional law, freedom of expression, and education law. A Philadelphia native, he earned both LL.B. and B.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2013, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion awarded him an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.