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June 13 (UPI) -- The University of California, Los Angeles, said Wednesday it selected former University of Miami President Julio Frenk as its next chancellor as the university grapples with pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus. Frenk, who also held positions in government and academia in the United States and his native Mexico, will succeed Gene Block, who announced last August that he would depart on July 31 after 17 years at the helm.
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When he arrives at UCLA in January, new chancellor will oversee a campus, like many others in the United States, that has been rocked by violent protests and counter-protests over the Biden administration's handling of the war in Gaza.
Earlier this week, UCLA police said they arrested about 25 people for attempting to set up "unauthorized and unlawful" encampments during a demonstration involving some 150 protesters.
In May, pro-Israel demonstrators attacked a group of pro-Palestinian protesters, and the incident ended in hundreds of arrests.
Frenk said he intends in his new role to listen to and work with "the entire campus community" to understand their needs and uphold the university's values of "inclusivity and mutual respect."
"I do think that we're at a critical moment in higher education," Frenk said in a statement. "There has been an erosion of trust in institutions in general, including higher education institutions. The biggest challenge for us is to reaffirm our value to society -- we have to constantly earn that trust. But the opportunity is huge."
As UCLA's first Latino chancellor, Frenk said his professional experience around the globe gives him a unique perspective on diversity.
"I consider myself a boundary spanner and a bridge builder," he said. "And I know that the strength of institutions of higher learning -- socially, academically and intellectually -- comes from their diversity and from a willingness to cross boundaries."
During his nearly 10-year tenure as president of the University of Miami, Frenk steered the university through the COVID-19 pandemic and implemented a series of safety guidelines that resulted in zero cases of in-classroom transmissions during that academic year.
Under Frenk's leadership, the University of Miami also completed its ascension into the Association of American Universities, expanded the Miller School of Medicine and UHealth and raised more than $2 billion in an ambitious $2.5 billion fundraising campaign.
Frenk also served as Mexico's secretary of health from 2000 to 2006 and was the founding director of Mexico's National Institute of Public Health.
He also was a senior fellow with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's global health program and dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
