Schwarzenegger Names David Crane to UC Board of Regents

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the appointment of David Crane to the University of California Board of Regents.

“David’s contributions during his time in my administration have shown his commitment to doing everything he can to make California great,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Serving as a member of the Board of Regents, I know that David will devote the energy, tenacity and creativity needed to keep the University of California the finest public university system in the world.”

Crane has served as special advisor to the Governor for jobs and economic growth since 2004 and has been a board member of the California High Speed Rail Authority and the Commission on Economic Development since 2007.

Previously, he was a partner with Babcock & Brown from 1979 to 2003. Crane is a board member of the David and Carla Crane Foundation, the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco and Building America’s Future and an advisory trustee of the Environmental Defense Fund.

“I’m honored to have been selected by Governor Schwarzenegger to become a member of the Board of Regents,” said Crane. “I look forward to working with the Regents to ensure access to a high quality and affordable education for California’s students.”

Crane, 57, of San Francisco, earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no salary. Crane is a Democrat.

(Editor’s Note: In 2006, when Democrat Don Perata was the prsident pro tempore of the Senate, the five-member Rules Committee, chaired by Perata, rejected Crane on a 3 to 2 for appointment to the board of directors of the State Teachers Retirement System. Crane, a long-time friend of Schwarzenegger, has been outspoken in his calls for overhauling the state’s public employee pension systems. It’s unclear what tack Senate president Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg will take when considering Crane as a regent with a 12-year term. Certainly the leverage Schwarzenegger has over the confirmation as an ex-governor is greatly diminished than if he were in teh corner office.)

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