Building Collections of Excellence

Preserving UCI's History: Living Memories

Celebrating 10 Years of Library Service to the Sciences

Late Night Study at Gateway Study Center

Gift of Valuable Edition of Gray's Anatomy

Ray Watson Papers Donated

Library Wish List

Librarian Supports Biological Research

Permier Partners Support Recognized

UCI's Kristen Monroe Discusses Moral Choices

Susan Bryan on Limb Regeneration and Stem Cells

Save the Date

 

Spencer C. Olin, a member of UCI’s founding faculty, is currently serving as Edward A. Dickson Emeritus Professor in order to work with the Libraries’ Historical Records Program and to take a lead role in the celebration of UCI’s 40th anniversary during 2005. Professor Olin reports on oral history interviews recently conducted with Jack Peltason and Ralph Cicerone.

From the 1970s through the 1990s, Samuel C. McCulloch, UCI Historian and now Professor Emeritus of History, conducted more than 100 oral history interviews with UCI faculty and staff, and then used them to good effect in writing Instant University: The History of the University of California, Irvine, 1957-93. His interviews constitute an invaluable resource for understanding the origins and development of this campus.

Jack Peltason

Years have now passed since those interviews were recorded, and UCI’s 40th anniversary is fast approaching. For these reasons, it seems timely to revisit some interviewees, as well as to meet with key individuals who have come to UCI in recent years. To date I have interviewed Chancellor Emeritus and UC President Emeritus Jack Peltason and Chancellor Ralph Cicerone. They both commented on the ways in which their scholarly achievements and previous university experiences influenced and shaped their educational values and affected their performances as academic administrators. Each also addressed the vexing problem of declining public funding for major research universities.

Jack Peltason served as Chancellor from 1984 to 1992, one of UCI’s greatest periods of growth and academic achievement. During our interview, he spoke candidly about what he considers his central achievements, as well as the major obstacles he faced. He went on to discuss the highlights of the difficult budgetary period in which he served as President of the University of California (1992-1995), specifically assessing the “value added” of the central office of the President to the overall operation of the UC system.

Ralph Cicerone

Ralph Cicerone is now completing his seventh year as UCI Chancellor, having also served during a time of rapid campus growth, and he will soon move on to the prestigious presidency of the National Academy of Sciences. He knowledgeably addressed many issues, including ways in which he has sought to increase revenues in the latest difficult budgetary climate: “State spending on the university is not even coming close to keeping up with the needs. Where will the resources come from if not … the state government? The answer is that we are going to have to have a lot more private resources and private fundraising.” He also expressed his views regarding future growth prospects for UCI, and the value of shared governance with UC’s Academic Senate.

The Peltason and Cicerone interviews are available in Special Collections and Archives. For additional information about the oral history and 40th anniversary projects, please contact Jackie Dooley, Head of Special Collections and Archives, at (949) 824-4935 or jmdooley@uci.edu.