Editing Richard C. Atkinson (section)

=== UC San Diego ===
As chancellor of the [[University of California, San Diego]] (UCSD) from 1980-1995, Atkinson instituted a major administrative reorganization and launched an effort to strengthen UC San Diego's ties with the city of [[San Diego]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pelfrey |first=Patricia A. |date=2012 |title=Entrepreneurial President: Richard Atkinson and the University of California, 1995-2003 |url=https://eScholarship.org/uc/item/6h83s857 |journal=eScholarship |language=en |pages=31–34}}</ref> This effort yielded dividends in the form of financial and community support, with private giving rising dramatically during his chancellorship. Despite a series of tight budgets in the late 1980s, he found ways to fund the construction of new buildings and support new academic programs. UCSD's faculty expanded by nearly 50 percent and enrollment doubled to about 18,000 students. Early in his tenure, consistent with his views about the value of engineering at NSF, he established a school of engineering.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rankings {{!}} Jacobs School of Engineering |url=https://jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/about/rankings#:~:text=the%20jacobs%20school%20of%20engineering,%20jacobs%20school%20snapshot%20brochure%20here |access-date= |website=jacobsschool.ucsd.edu}}</ref>

Atkinson encouraged technology transfer and active involvement with industry, especially with the small, high-technology companies that were forming around San Diego in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1985, UC San Diego Extension began the UCSD CONNECT program, which became a model for preparing entrepreneurs in high-technology fields to launch start-up companies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pelfrey |first=Patricia A. |date=2012 |title=Entrepreneurial President: Richard Atkinson and the University of California, 1995-2003 |url=https://eScholarship.org/uc/item/6h83s857 |journal=eScholarship |language=en |pages=104–105}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Smilor |first1=Raymond |last2=O'Donnell |first2=Niall |last3=Stein |first3=Gregory |last4=Welborn |first4=Robert S. |date=August 2007 |title=The Research University and the Development of High-Technology Centers in the United States |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0891242407299426 |journal=Economic Development Quarterly |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=203–222 |doi=10.1177/0891242407299426 |issn=0891-2424|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

A few years after Atkinson's arrival at UCSD, a member of the [[Harvard University]] faculty, Lee H. Perry, sued him in San Diego Superior Court. Represented by the “palimony” attorney, [[Marvin Mitchelson]], Perry claimed she had an intimate relationship with Atkinson that resulted in a pregnancy, and that Atkinson persuaded her to have an abortion, promising that he would have a child with her at a later time. Her lawsuit alleged [[intentional infliction of emotional distress]], [[fraud]], and [[Deception|deceit]].  Before trial, the Superior Court granted Atkinson's motion for [[summary judgment]] on the fraud and deceit claim as initially filed, and sustained his [[demurrer]] to the claim as amended without further leave to amend (which operated as a dismissal of that claim). In 1986, the case went to trial on Perry's remaining claim for emotional distress. Atkinson settled that claim without admitting liability, but Perry reserved the right to appeal from the trial court's ruling on the demurrer to her fraud and deceit claim. In 1987, the Court of Appeal affirmed the Superior Court's dismissal of that claim. In 1988, the Supreme Court of California denied her petition for review, which effectively ended the case.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In an interview with the Los Angeles Times on August 15, 1986, UC System President David P. Gardner said he had personally reviewed Atkinson's situation to see if "his performance was in any way being affected adversely." He found strong support for the chancellor on the campus and in the community. |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/154905779 |website=ProQuest|id={{ProQuest|154905779}} }}</ref>

In 1982, UCSD was elected to the [[Association of American Universities]]. The National Research Council's 1995 report on the quality of graduate programs in U.S. universities ranked the scholarly and scientific caliber of UCSD faculty and its graduate offerings tenth in the nation, higher than any other public university except [[University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Webster |first1=David S. |last2=Skinner |first2=Tad |date=1996-05-01 |title=Rating Phd Programs: What the NRC Report Says …and Doesn't Say |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00091383.1996.10544265 |journal= Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning|volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=22–45 |doi=10.1080/00091383.1996.10544265 |issn=0009-1383|url-access=subscription }}</ref>