Denice Dee Denton, the controversial chancellor of the University of California-Santa Cruz, plunged to her death Saturday from the 44th floor of a San Francisco apartment building, the medical examiner's office confirmed. She was 46.
Denton's death is being investigated as a suicide by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in San Francisco. Her body was found on Saturday outside the Paramount apartments -- where her partner, Gretchen Kalonji, lives.
The luxury rentals are billed as the ``tallest apartment for rent in San Francisco'' and are located on Mission Street at Third, across from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
No other details on her death were immediately available.
Her tenure as chancellor was a rocky one. The outspoken lesbian was criticized for having the university foot the bill for $600,000 in renovations to her campus home, including a $30,000 enclosure for her dogs, a new dishwasher, sub-zero refrigerator, and updated bathroom. She also outraged university union members when her partner was hired to work for the UC system at a six-figure salary.
