Charles Lacy, an institution in nonprofit continuing learning at the University of California, has announced he will retire from his position as dean of UC Davis University Extension Dec. 31 just as the division finishes celebrating its 40th anniversary. Lacy, 60, has been dean of the division since 1991, but his affiliation traces back to 1972 when, as a graduate student in political science here, he took a job coordinating a course on foreign policy so that he could support his family while he completed his dissertation. Since then, in his positions as assistant dean, associate dean, interim dean and dean, Lacy has helped steer the campus's entrepreneurial teaching program through the shoals of the changing marketplace. "Charles Lacy has successfully guided a large, complex and self-supporting continuing education program with professionalism and vision," said Robert Grey, provost and executive vice chancellor at UC Davis. "He has identified outstanding colleagues, nurtured their development and built an excellent team to continue meeting the increasingly important educational needs and preferences of people throughout their careers and lives." According to William Lacy, vice provost for university outreach and international programs, Charles Lacy has excelled at accurately forecasting the region's educational needs and then mobilizing appropriate educators to meet those needs. "Charles' sound leadership and insightful analysis of the changing and evolving educational needs of the region and the state have positioned UNEX to become one of the most respected and effective lifelong learning organizations in the nation, reaching over 80,000 students in 1999," he said. When Charles Lacy began in 1972, his organization had 30 employees, a budget of about $1,500,000 and about 7,500 people enrolled. The largest single program was teacher education, followed by grant-funded community development training. Lacy administered a small public administration unit that included two certificate programs and short courses. Extension had became self-supporting in 1968. Today, UNEX employs 200 employees, handles a budget of $22 million and has about 84,000 people enrolled a year. Rather than the '70s emphasis on general education, UNEX now focuses on professional needs. Its largest program trains professionals affiliated with county and state social services programs. UNEX is also involved with agriculture, business and management, K-12 education, information technology and international programs. Those international offerings range from English as a second language to the law school's summer program for international lawyers. It has 22 certificate programs and is venturing into classes in the life sciences and biotechnology. Lacy first came to UC Davis as a doctoral student in 1968 after a three-year stint as a high-school teacher and traveler in Europe. He had completed a master's degree in political science from UC Berkeley in 1963 and a bachelor's degree in government from Miami University in Ohio in 1962. He was tapped by the division in 1976 to be its assistant dean for academic affairs, a position he held until 1981, when Vice Chancellor and Dean Jim Sullivan appointed Lacy as the administrator in charge of all extension operations. Working full time, Lacy also managed to finish his dissertation in 1984. In 1991, he received the James H. Meyer Distinguished Achievement Award from the UC Davis Academic Federation to recognize his exceptional career achievement on campus. That same year he established the UC Davis Public Policy Institute. He is an expert National Issues Forum moderator and has assisted universities throughout the nation in establishing institutes. He is also a board member of the Kettering Foundation-funded National Issues Forums Institute and a national participant in the institute. Lacy was named associate dean in 1990, interim dean in 1991 and dean in 1994. Over the past decade, he has concentrated on expanding the continuing education division's infrastructure -- in people, classrooms and office space, and computers. UNEX moved to south Davis in 1987, and last year more office space was added in DaVinci Court across the street from the main UNEX building to accommodate the growth. In addition, UNEX expanded into Sutter Square Galleria in downtown Sacramento in 1996. "Our most important investment has been in staff and infrastructure to do distance education -- through the Internet as well as on video tapes and e-mail," Lacy said. A national search will begin this month to replace Lacy, with hopes of securing his successor by Jan. 1, 2001.