The chancellor of the University of California at Irvine admitted yesterday in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he had “bungled” the hiring of his new law-school dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, who was offered the job last month, had the offer withdrawn this month, and then, after a torrent of bad publicity, was re-offered the job and accepted it on Monday.

The chancellor, Michael V. Drake, declined to explain why he had rescinded his initial offer to Mr. Chemerinsky, but he denied he had acted in response to outside pressure and said he “completely and totally” regretted how he had handled the affair.

Dr. Drake also apologized on Thursday to several hundred faculty members who had gathered for a meeting of the university’s Academic Senate and who greeted his remarks with applause. Describing the Chemerinsky saga as a “painful lesson,” he vowed to “mend bridges” by consulting senior professors on such matters in the future.

Also on Thursday, the university’s Board of Regents ratified Mr. Chemerinsky’s appointment. —Andrew Mytelka