[3] Reynolds began teaching in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois in 1965, where she also conducted research on embryonic and fetal development, child nutrition, and pancreatic disease.
[5] Although her term was generally successful, she was forced to resign in 1990 when the system trustees questioned the substantial pay raises she had given herself, other top executives, and campus presidents.
[6] In addition, several trustees were displeased with a rule that she had put in place shortly before being forced to resign that required campus presidents who were 65 years of age or older to retire.
[9] When Reynolds became the chancellor of the City University of New York (CUNY) in 1990, the system's open enrollment policy had been the subject of debate for two decades.
Reynold's effort to introduce academic coordination among campuses and reduce duplicated programs was less successful, and provoked resistance from faculty and administrators.
"[10] In 1997 Reynolds was named president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she established successful capital campaigns and new programs in arts, math and science to develop local teens into college-bound students.