By Sara Hebel

Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, founding chancellor of the University of California at Merced, died this month, five days shy of her 67th birthday, in Decatur, Ga. She had breast cancer.

Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey was named chancellor of the campus in 1999, charged with planning what became the first American research university to be built in the 21st century and the first new University of California campus in four decades.

At times, advocates for the campus worried it might never become a reality, but Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey persisted, in spite of being diagnosed with cancer two years into her chancellorship.

She overcame political opponents, environmental obstacles, budget limits, and wary local residents to build the unversity amid rolling grasslands and grazing cattle in central California.

She presided over the opening of the campus, the system's 10th, in the fall of 2005. That first semester, it had 875 students and 60 faculty members.

Her illness led her to step down as chancellor a year later. Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey, who held a doctoral degree in developmental psychology, said she wanted to return to teaching and scholarship, record some of the campus's history, and give her family a higher priority. She became a part of Merced's faculty, teaching undergraduate courses in psychology, and then retired from the university in 2007.

'A Contagious Enthusiasm'

Many of her former colleagues say the Merced campus may not have come into being without Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey's tenacity and persuasiveness.

She was passionate about building a university in the San Joaquin Valley, where college-going rates have lagged behind those of other California regions, and where ample natural resources provide opportunities for research on environmental topics like solar energy.

James H. Erickson, who worked with Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey at the University of California at Riverside, says she persuaded him to come out of retirement to work as Merced's vice chancellor for university advancement from 2000 to 2004.

"She had a very contagious enthusiasm and kept us all going," he said.

Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey's eloquence and her ability to inspire, Mr. Erickson added, led her to cultivate a number of prominent donors, such as Robert J. Gallo, president of E. & J. Gallo Winery. She opened the Merced campus with 14 endowed chairs, at $1-million each, exceeding her goal of 10.

Students say she was warm and easy to approach. Sam G. Fong, who was part of Merced's first class of entering freshmen, says Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey encouraged his goal of starting a business group for students on the campus. She told him that it would take a lot of hard work but that his passion would help him succeed, he recalls.

"That left me feeling a lot more confident and resolved," said Mr. Fong, who founded a group called the Business Society. He graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in management.

Immediately before becoming chancellor at Merced, Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey was vice provost for academic initiatives at the University of California system. She began working for the University of California in 1977 and held various teaching and administrative positions at the system's Riverside and Davis campuses.

Many people who knew her remarked on how naturally she seemed to connect with different types of people, from fourth graders to the governor. She was direct, genuine, and unpretentious, says Patti Waid Istas, Merced's executive director of communications.

One day, between meetings with a newspaper reporter and a U.S. congressman, Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey insisted on stopping for lunch at a gas station, Ms. Istas says. She bought a corn dog, which she ate while sitting on the sidewalk wearing her heels and pearls.

Larry Salinas, assistant vice chancellor for governmental relations at Merced, combed through nine years of photos he snapped of Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey and forwarded what he called "some classics." "As you will see," he wrote in an e-mail message, "she was elegant but not afraid to roll up her sleeves and help her team or have some fun."

One photo showed the chancellor in a beige suit, kneeling on the floor and leaning over a slide projector staff members were working to set up. Another picture showed Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey grinning in an elf hat at a holiday parade in Merced.

Mr. Salinas signed off his e-mail message the way he said Ms. Tomlinson-Keasey liked to end her notes, saying simply, "SMILE."