Former UC Berkeley Chancellor Hospitalized With Brain Tumor

SAN FRANCISCO — Former UC Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien has been hospitalized for treatment of a brain tumor, UC officials confirmed.

Tien, 65, is in critical but stable condition at UC San Francisco Medical Center.

Family members urged Tien to seek treatment after he appeared unusually tired over the Labor Day weekend.

He was admitted and underwent surgery. His son, Norman Tien, said the family is awaiting test results before deciding what to do next. Norman Tien said his father is alert and communicating with the family, according to a Berkeley news release.

At the time of his 1990 appointment, Tien was believed to be the first Asian to head a major U.S. university. He resigned six years later, saying he wanted to move on.

A popular campus leader and successful fund-raiser, Tien is also an internationally recognized authority in heat transfer technology. He is currently the NEC distinguished professor of engineering at Berkeley.

“Chang-Lin Tien is one of the great leaders of American higher education and served the Berkeley campus as one of its most beloved and successful chancellors,” UC President Richard Atkinson said in a statement. “We share the family’s hopes for Dr. Tien’s full recovery.”