Interview with the president of the University of California

This is pretty funny. And, to think that I used to work there. This guy definitely needs a P.R. consultant. I've seen dozens of these NYT mini-interviews, and I don't think I've ever seen someone come off so badly. The high point for me was his answering a question about pay cuts by saying that he's from Philadelphia. I don't know how much of this is sheer incompetence and how much is coming from the interviewer (Deborah Solomon) trying to string him up. Usually she seems pretty gentle to her interview subjects. My guess is what happened is her easygoing questions lulled Yudof into a false sense of security, he got too relaxed, and he started saying stupid things. Solomon must have been amazed by what was coming out of his mouth.

P.S. The bit about the salary was entertaining too. I wonder if he has some sort of deal like sports coaches do, so that even if they fire him, they have to pay out X years on his contract.