CGB Hall Of Fame Tournament: Elite 8: Chancellor Tien (9) v. Dana Vollmer (10)

Yes, the classic 9 v. 10 matchup.  How did we get here?  Well, Chancellor Tien took out Sean Lampley, Ron Gould, and Jahvid Best (picking up  like 40 votes in the last night to take down Best).  Vollmer took out Jerrot Willard, Jerome Randle, and Russell White.  And they say football is king!

But now, only one can make it in.  The swimming superstar or the champion chancellor?  Who is it gonna be?  You can view the full bracket here.  Voting ends this Friday at noon, so go and vote!  GO BEARS!

Chancellor Tien (9)

via upload.wikimedia.org

From wikipedia

Known for his "Go Bears!" spirit, Tien was very popular with students, often showing up at student rallies and sporting events wearing his "Cal" baseball cap. He was not uncommonly sighted picking up trash in Sproul Plaza, appearing in the library in the middle of the night during finals week, or checking up on students in the residence halls and classrooms.

He was the eighth Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley (1990-1997), the first Asian to head a major university in the United States.

Tien was an expert in thermal science and researched on thermal radiation, thermal insulation, microscale thermal phenomena, fluid flow, phase-change energy transfer, heat pipes, reactor safety, cryogenics, and fire phenomena, authoring more than 300 research journal and monograph articles, 16 edited volumes, and one book.

From LeonPowe: I think more than any other post-FSM Chancellor, Chancellor Tien was the embodiment of the campus spirit. He not only fought vigoriously to protect the academic strength of the University, while being the first Chancellor since the FSM to support the idea of top flight athletics co-existing harmoniously with Cal's reputation as one of the top universities in the world. I first met Chancellor Tien at the Chancellor's reception my freshman year in the Fall of 1992. He was actually talking to about 30 freshmen about his time at Louisville - he said the reason he earned his BS, MS and then PhD in such fast time (Louisville, then Princeton) is because he was so poor as an international student, he only had one bowl of plain rice to eat a day, and he wanted to get into the work force so that he could afford to eat! Once Tien got to Cal, he didn't waste any time. Starting as an associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering in 1959 at the age of 23, three years later he became the youngest professor in Cal history to win the Distinguished Teaching Award. From there he moved on to becoming a full professor, Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department, Vice Chancellor of Research - two years at UC Irvine as executive Vice Chancellor, before returning to Cal as Chancellor in 1990.

While he was a unversity administrator for much of his career, at his heart he remained a professor and a mechanical engineer. He continued to teach classes while he was the Cal Chancellor, while his expertise on heat transfer technology was significant in solving some of the Space Shuttle cereamic tile issues.

During his time as Chancellor, Cal was undergoing a lot of changes - the two biggest the regents of the University of California banning affirmative action and the other being an 18% budget cut. In order to preserve Cal's diversity - Tien began the ambitious program "The Berkeley Pledge" aimed at pushing students from economically disadvantaged areas towards a college (and Cal) education, while to combat the budget cuts and retain the young professors who would usher Cal into the next century, he began a program called "The Promise of Berkeley - Campaign for the New Century" which raised a then-unheard of 1.44 billion dollars for the University (including my $100/year!)

But more than that, the man loved Cal. I'm not alone in having seen him pick up trash while walking around campus. I'm not the only student to have eaten his fresh baked cookies while he walked around Moffitt during Finals with a big box, exhorting us "STUDENTS! STUDY HARD! GO BEARS!" As a big basketball fan (he used to claim that if he had grown taller than his 5'4", he would've gone on to play professionally in Taiwan), he would occasionally get into the layup line with the Cal team. In fact, if you watch the end of the Cal-Duke game, while Coach K is walking off the court, Chancellor Tien comes over to shake his hand, and Coach K is VERY confused as to why this random Chinese guy with a Cal hat is on the court. Stories like him changing his flight returning from a University Presidents and Chancellors Conference to catch Cal vs. Kansas football. Him leading the 1-2-3 Go Bears! cheers at rallies, on the sidelines, the man's spirit was infectious. Unfortunately for Cal and the world at large, Chancellor Tien was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2000, three years after he retired as Cal's chancellor. He passed away at the age of 67 in 2002.

If anyone could truly truly be a Golden Bear, Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien was that guy. Go Bears!

Dana Vollmer (10)

OaktownAggie: NCAA swimmer of the year.
Olympian. Forgot to add:
Overcame adversity, having undergone heart surgery in 2003.
NCAA Swimmer of the Year during a National Championship season.

From her CalBears.com bio:

"Claimed numerous awards in a stellar final season as a Bear - named the 2009 NCAA Swimmer of the Year, Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year and Honda Sports Award winner for Swimming...nominated for a 2009 ESPY Award in the Best Female Collegiate Athlete category...won four national titles and was key member of Cal's first NCAA team championship"

From espn:

" Cal's Dana Vollmer has won the Honda Award as the nation's top swimmer.
Vollmer helped her team capture the Pac-10 and NCAA titles. She was chosen NCAA swimmer of the year Wednesday after winning the 100- and 200-yard freestyle, and she also contributed to two relay titles in the 400 and 800 freestyle.

Vollmer is the third athlete from Cal to win the Honda Award, joining Mary T. Meagher (1985, '87) and Natalie Coughlin (2002, '03).

The Honda Award is given annually to the top female athletes in 12 NCAA sports."

As a member of the US Swimming Team, she was a member of the world-record-setting 800m free relay at the 2007 World Championships, earned gold as a member of the 800m free relay at the 2006 Pan Pacifics, and was gold medalist on the 800m free relay that broke a 17-yr-old world record at the 2004 Olympics.