By Nikki Babri
In a testament to institutional dedication that eclipses conventional academic service, Professor James A. Steintrager has been awarded the prestigious 2023-2024 Daniel G. Aldrich, Jr. Distinguished University Service Award. Presented by the Academic Senate, the recognition celebrates Steintrager’s nearly three-decade journey of governance and leadership that has transformed UC Irvine and the broader University of California system.
A legacy of service leadership
Steintrager, a professor in the Departments of English, Comparative Literature and European Languages and Studies, brings to his service work the same meticulous analysis that characterizes his scholarship in 17th- and 18th-century English, French and German literature.
“As my colleagues know maybe too well, I also enjoy delving deep into obscure compendia of UC and UCI rules and regulations, as well as into institutional history, to help make grounded and informed decisions,” Steintrager explains. “In some ways, that’s not too different than what I do as a scholar who spends a good deal of time going in library archives, poring over obscure books and manuscripts to construct an argument about literary history.”
Since joining UCI in 1997, his journey has encompassed an array of leadership positions: Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research in the School of Humanities, Chair of the Department of English, Acting and Interim Dean of the School of Humanities and Director of the Center for Critical Theory. Within the UCI Academic Senate, his roles have included chairing the Committee on Rules and Jurisdiction, the Council on Planning and Budget, the Committee on Planning and Budget and serving as Chair of the UCI Academic Senate.
Remarkably, even this extensive catalog of positions only scratches the surface of Steintrager’s service contributions to the university community throughout his distinguished career.
“I’m not sure that I had a strategy for my service work – unless you count an inability to say ‘no’ as a strategy!” he jokes. “But since I also enjoy service work – especially insofar as it connects me to parts of the campus that I wouldn’t ordinarily be connected to and, indeed, to other campuses within UC – I have generally tried to behave myself on committees, familiarize myself with whatever the current issues are and learn from staff.”
Elizabeth Allen, professor and chair of the Department of English, has witnessed the distinctive qualities Steintrager brings to his service commitments. “At Department and School levels, I have often observed Professor Steintrager’s dry wit, knack for building relationships and keeping temperatures down and capacity for conceptualizing clearly the intricacies that characterize UC systems,” she notes. “His service has been quietly committed, and he has been a gracious mentor and colleague, meticulous scholar and excellent teacher along the way.”
Leadership amid crisis
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, Steintrager found himself at the epicenter of UCI’s institutional response as Academic Senate Chair. This unexpected crisis demanded swift yet thoughtful leadership during a period of profound uncertainty, with Steintrager working in close partnership with Acting Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Hal Stern to ensure educational continuity and community safety.
Their collaborative approach – driven by evidence-based decision-making and commitment to community welfare – established crucial frameworks for campus operations during those critical initial months. Even after his term as Senate Chair concluded, Steintrager’s expertise remained indispensable as he continued serving through four essential committees during the pandemic: the Provost’s COVID-19 Strategic Advisory Group, the COVID-19 Budget Workgroup, the Travel Risk Review Team and the Educational Continuity Group.
“It’s not that we got everything right,” Steintrager reflects, “but being part of a larger team and looking out for faculty and student interests as part of that team was immensely rewarding. Some of that rewarding aspect I only grasped in retrospect, since things were so intense and happening so fast.”
One of Steintrager’s nominators characterized his leadership during this period as calm, inventive and steadfast, adding that the campus will always be indebted to Steintrager and Stern for their work during this period. Steintrager’s “service has directly led to the betterment of the academic and personal lives of the entire university community,” they asserted.
Systemwide advocacy
Following his local service, Steintrager served as Vice Chair and Chair of the systemwide Council on Planning and Budget, and was later elected Vice Chair and Chair of the UC-wide Academic Senate. There, he represented faculty interests at the highest levels of UC governance and shaped policies that impacted all ten UC campuses.
As systemwide Senate Chair, Steintrager carried the faculty voice to the apex of university leadership – working directly with UC President Michael V. Drake’s team, participating in Regents’ meetings and advocating for educational quality in legislative contexts, especially with regard to transfer pathways into UC.
“While I’ve continued to serve in various ways, my ‘major’ service lifts over the past several years have been for UCI’s Academic Senate and the UC Academic Senate as a whole,” Steintrager shares. “So, for me, it’s deeply moving to receive my colleagues’ recognition for this sort of service work and to do so via the Academic Senate itself. I’ve spent most of my academic career at UCI and served in various capacities along the way, so professionally this award really is a capstone achievement for this aspect of my career.”
Navigating future challenges
Even with his extensive service record, Steintrager remains engaged in addressing emerging challenges in higher education. He is presently chairing a UC systemwide Academic Senate workgroup on generative AI as it pertains to instruction, research, admissions and faculty welfare.
“AI is already impacting so many of the ways that we do things at the university, and it seems certain that this impact will only grow as AI tools become more widespread and integrated into various platforms and technologies we use,” he observes. “How we as a university manage this change is going to be an enormous challenge. It’s exciting to be working with colleagues across the system and to be sort of inside this moment of promise and peril.”
Despite his deep administrative commitments, Steintrager acknowledges missing the classroom during his service assignments. When he finally returned to in-person instruction in fall 2021, teaching a course on Restoration-era English literature, he found unexpected similarities between the 17th-century period – marked by political turmoil, a pandemic and mask-wearing (albeit for fashion) – and the present moment. This, he reminisces, created a uniquely engaging classroom experience for both he and students eager to return to campus.
True to his collaborative approach, Steintrager emphasizes the collective nature of institutional progress: “Service work is always teamwork, such that while I appreciate the individual recognition, I’m well-aware that what good comes out of service is the result of group efforts. Most of all, I’d want to thank and recognize the staff in the Academic Senate office who have supported, informed and encouraged me over the years.”
His dedication to university service exemplifies the essential yet often unseen work that strengthens the entire UC system. “From the early stages of his career at UCI, Professor Steintrager has demonstrated an admirable and sustained commitment to service,” shares Tyrus Miller, dean of the School of Humanities. “The School of Humanities is thankful for his tireless, dedicated and capacious service at UCI and the UC-wide system.”
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