"With his fine record of performance and his in-depth knowledge of Berkeley, he was clearly the best choice in the entire country, '' says Shiing-Shen Chern, a professor emeritus of mathematics at the university. As soon as he heard that the previous chancellor was going to step down, he thought Chang-lin Tien should be his successor.
「以他種種表現及對柏克萊的深刻認識，絕對是全美國找得到的最佳人選」，曾任柏克萊數學研究所所長的陳省身表示，當上任校長宣佈即將退位時，他就想到﹘﹘該田長霖了。