Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl announced the appointment at a press conference in Haas Pavilion on the UC Berkeley campus. "Steve Gladstone is the person who can lead this very good program to the next level, to make it an exemplary championship program in every way," said Berdahl.

Berdahl described Gladstone as "a man who has a compelling vision of what athletic competition at the highest levels of achievement can mean in the lives of the young people we are seeking to educate here... He is, at his core, an educator."

Gladstone, 59, is regarded as one of the nation's premier crew coaches. He has been director of rowing and men's varsity crew coach at UC Berkeley twice, first from 1972 to 1980 and most recently since 1996. During both tenures his teams captured national titles.

As the director of rowing operations at Brown University from 1981-94, Gladstone established a program that was viewed as the best in collegiate rowing. He also served as Brown's interim athletic director and as executive vice president and senior development director of the Brown University Sports Foundation from July 1994 through the spring of 1995.

"I am very happy and truly honored to be appointed Cal's athletic director. We will work together to instill Berkeley's championship standard throughout the entire athletic department," said Gladstone.

Reaching this goal, he said, "is going to require teamwork both administratively and within the coaching ranks. I believe my strength is in building trust and that is the underpinning of building a championship team."

As the new athletic director, Gladstone will oversee a program that encompasses 27 Division I sports and 25 sports clubs, with a budget of $34 million and a staff of 200.

Gladstone will begin his new job on June 1. He replaces John Kasser, who served as athletic director for seven years before departing in December for a position with the Fox Sports Network.

Gladstone's name has been synonymous with success ever since he began coaching in 1966. Last year he guided Cal's men's varsity team to its second consecutive undefeated season, winning a national championship title and the Pac-10 Men's Rowing Coach of the Year honors for the third consecutive season.

With eight national championships to his credit, including three at Cal, he currently ranks second in all-time varsity championships behind Charles "Pop" Courtney, who won 11 titles at Cornell between 1901 and 1915.

Himself a varsity oarsman at Syracuse University where he received his BA in American literature, his first coaching position was at Princeton University. Four years later he took over as varsity lightweight coach at Harvard. There he led his teams to four straight undefeated seasons and won the Thames Challenge Cup and Wyfold Challenge Cup at Henley, England.

The son of a broadcast journalist, Gladstone has twice stepped into the broadcast booth. In 1984 he was hired by ABC sports as an expert commentator for rowing events at the Los Angeles Olympics. Four years later, NBC brought him on for rowing events at the Seoul Olympic Games. Immediately prior to his return to Cal, Gladstone served as the president and director of marketing for Resolute Racing Shells.