OAKLAND — University of California President Janet Napolitano has been hospitalized because of side effects for previously undisclosed cancer treatment.
Napolitano, 59, was diagnosed at the end of August and the treatment is nearly completed, according to a statement from her office.
For privacy reasons the office declined to say what kind of cancer she has or the name of the hospital where she is being treated. Napolitano was previously treated successfully for breast cancer in 2000.
According to the statement, Napolitano has kept Monica Lozano, chairwoman of the UC Board of Regents, completely informed since the diagnosis.
The rest of the Board of Regents learned of Napolitano’s cancer diagnosis in a phone call Tuesday morning.
“As you no doubt have observed, Janet has been able to consistently perform her wide range of duties and extensive travel at full capacity,” Lozano wrote in an email. “Yesterday, however, she experienced side effects from her treatment that required her to be briefly hospitalized.”
Napolitano’s office said that according to her physicians, “she is doing extremely well. They expect her to be discharged in the next day or so and back to her normal duties at full capacity very soon.”
Gov. Jerry Brown was “notified ahead of time,’’ said the governor’s spokesman, Evan Westrup. He declined to say when Brown had been alerted or to provide any other details.
The news took UC students and faculty by surprise.
“The last time I saw her in person she looked fine and energetic,’’ said Bob Powell, chairman of the Berkeley division of the Academic Senate, which represents about 1,500 faculty at UC Berkeley.
Powell, a political-science professor, said he had met with Napolitano just before Christmas.
“I and my colleagues wish her well,’’ said Powell, who characterized Tuesday’s revelation as “a matter of personal privacy.’’
At UC Davis, Ralph Washington Jr., president of the UC Student Association, echoed Powell’s comments.
He too had met with Napolitano last month and said she seemed engaged and no different physically.
“I saw no indication’’ of any illness, said Washington Jr., a graduate student in entomology.
In November 2004, Napolitano had surgery to remove her right ovary and a benign ovarian cyst. She resumed a normal work schedule three days later.
Napolitano had her right breast removed 17 years ago after being diagnosed with cancer.
According to a story published in Phoenix Woman magazine, while still serving as Arizona attorney general, Napolitano spoke at the 2000 Democratic National Convention three weeks after having a mastectomy.
She recalled that the pain was so unbearable that she couldn’t stand up.
“Work and family helped me focus on other things while I battled the cancer,” Napolitano said. “I am very grateful for all the support I had from family, friends and Arizonans.”
Napolitano served as President Barack Obama’s homeland security secretary from 2009 to 2013, as governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009, as Arizona’s attorney general from 1998 to 2003, and as U.S. attorney for Arizona from 1993 to 1997.
As president of the UC system since September 2013, she oversees the 10 UC campuses, five medical centers, three affiliated national laboratories and a statewide agriculture and natural resources program. She is among the highest-paid public employees in the state, receiving an annual $570,000 salary and benefits totaling nearly $150,000.
During her tenure, Napolitano has fought for additional funding for higher education, and she recently announced a policy saying UC employees will not assist government agencies trying to enforce federal immigration laws. Napolitano has repeatedly sought to ensure that undocumented students can feel safe on UC campuses since the election of Donald Trump, who made illegal immigration a key issue of his campaign.
In the past year, she has seen chancellors at two of the largest schools in the system, UC Berkeley and UC Davis, embroiled in ethics scandals. Both of them eventually resigned.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
