Jul 12, 2013 03:46 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The University of California (UC) regents have chosen Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano as its next leader, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The regents selected a political leader instead of a prominent figure from the realm of academia and will also give the UC system its first female leader. UC has 10 campuses and a total of 230,000 students.

"I recognize that I am a nontraditional candidate," Napolitano said in Friday's announcement. "In my experience, whether preparing to govern a state or to lead an agency as critical and complex as Homeland Security, I have found the best way to start is simply to listen."

The announcement garnered generally positive reactions from academic officials, politicians and students across the state. Gov. Jerry Brown lauded Napolitano's "strength of character" and "outsider's mind" in a statement Friday.

"I think this is the right step at the right time," said Henry Brady, dean of UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy.

UC's current president, Mark Yudof, announced in January that he would be stepping down at the end of August and cited health reasons.

Napolitano, former governor and attorney general of Arizona, was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2008 to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Kevin Johnson, dean of the UC Davis School of Law, was encouraged by the choice.

"I hadn't anticipated this, but it makes a lot of sense," he said. "She's certainly skilled at navigating challenging and divisive political waters. Having a leader who works well with the legislators and the regents is going to be critically important."

Napolitano graduated from Santa Clara University in 1979 as the school's first female valedictorian. She also earned an additional degree in law, but does not have a doctorate.

John Aubrey Douglass, a senior fellow at UC Berkeley's Center for Studies in Higher Education, said Napolitano's extensive public service experience will have an immediate impact on policy making, her knowledge of academia is limited.

"It might take Napolitano, an outsider to the world of academia, a while to gain the full trust of faculty, and perhaps students," he said.

Napolitano informed her senior staff on Friday that she would be leaving her position for California.

"I thank President Obama for the chance to serve our nation during this important chapter in our history," Napolitano said, "and I know the Department of Homeland Security will continue to perform its important duties with the honor and focus that the American public expects."

See Now: Covert Team Inside Newsweek Revealed as Key Players in False Human Trafficking Lawsuit