IRVINE : Aldrich Memorial to Be Held in Park

A tribute to UC Irvine’s founding chancellor, Daniel G. Aldrich Jr., will be held May 11 in the spot he chose to be the heart of the campus in the early 1960s, officials announced.

The memorial to Aldrich, who died April 9 at the age of 71 after a protracted battle with intestinal cancer, will be held at 4 p.m. in the Rock Garden in Aldrich Park.

“There could be no other site for this tribute than the park for which Dan had such a special fondness,” said UCI Chancellor Jack Peltason, who served as Aldrich’s first vice chancellor for academic affairs at the university.

The ceremony will include the unveiling of a memorial plaque donated by the UCI Alumni Assn. and the planting of a tree donated by UC Riverside, where Aldrich began his association with the University of California in 1943 as a soil chemist.

Speakers sharing their memories of the popular chancellor will include Peltason and Raymond Watson, vice chairman of the Irvine Co.

The family has asked that anyone wishing to make donations in Aldrich’s name do so to one of three memorial funds: the UCI Alumni Assn.

Graduate Fellowship Fund; the Endowment for the Beautification of the Campus, or to a fellow at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. All can be sent in care of the UCI Foundation, 600 Administration, UC Irvine, Calif., 92717.

The memorial celebration is open to the public. Campus parking will be free from 3 to 6 p.m. that afternoon.