Daniel Gaskill Aldrich, Jr. (July 12, 1918 – April 9, 1990) was the founding

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

from 1962 to 1984. He also served as acting chancellor at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

from 1986 to 1987 and acting chancellor at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

from 1984 to 1985.

Career

Education

Aldrich received a B.S. degree in agriculture from the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

in 1939. He then received a

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

in 1941. He met Jean Hamilton, his wife-to-be, during his time there. He received his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

by continuing his studies of soil chemistry at the University of Wisconsin in 1943. Aldrich's doctoral dissertation in agriculture was titled ''Controlled hydration of montmorillonite and hydrous mica and its influence on their x-ray diffraction patterns'' (1943).

Career

In 1944, he began his association with the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

system as a junior chemist at the Citrus Experimental Station at Riverside. In 1955, he was appointed chair of the soils departments at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

and

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

(joint appointments were common before much of the College of Agriculture was transferred to and consolidated at the Davis campus). In 1958, he was appointed the dean of the College of Agriculture. In 1962, UC President

Clark Kerr Clark Kerr (May 17, 1911 – December 1, 2003) was an American economist and academic administrator. He was the first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and twelfth president of the University of California. Early life and ...

selected Aldrich to be the founding chancellor of the

. In his memoirs, Kerr wrote many chapters depicting everything that went wrong at the other UC campuses—especially Berkeley and Santa Cruz—but had only fond memories of Aldrich and Irvine: "Aldrich fitted Irvine to perfection. I never considered any other possibilities for recommendation to the regents." Kerr remembered that Aldrich had only one defect: he was a strict

teetotaler Teetotalism is the practice of voluntarily abstaining from the consumption of alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler (US) or teetotaller (UK), or said to be ...

who did not allow alcoholic beverages to be served in his home. Kerr later noticed that as chancellor, Aldrich had started to serve such beverages as a social courtesy to guests, and joked with him that Aldrich had taken his first "big step" towards "

skid row A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disre ...

UC Irvine chancellorship

As Irvine's founding chancellor, Aldrich carried out a mandate from President Kerr and the

Regents of the University of California The Regents of the University of California (also referred to as the Board of Regents to distinguish the board from the corporation it governs of the same name) is the governing board of the University of California (UC), a state university sys ...

to take the new campus from blueprints to a functional academic institution within three years. His background in agriculture influenced his intent to make the campus environmentally friendly. This environmental groundwork contributes to UCI's high ranking green program today. Aldrich was responsible for actively recruiting UCI's first faculty and students.

William Pereira William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his Futurist architecture#Post-modern futurism, futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamer ...

was one of the first faculty members recruited. Together they planned the 21-acre park located in the middle of campus today, along with many other buildings. Aldrich was officially inaugurated as the first chancellor on May 20, 1965. Students decorated the school's library to celebrate the event. Students called him "Chancellor Dan" and his door was always open to their concerns.

Retirement

Aldrich retired from the chancellorship in 1984. The Board of Regents named the park in the middle of campus "Aldrich Park" in his honor. One indicator of the quality of Aldrich's leadership skills is that UC President David P. Gardner called upon him twice to come out of retirement to serve as acting chancellor at two other UC campuses then in crisis. Aldrich served as acting chancellor at Riverside from 1984 to 1985 after the sudden death of

Tomás Rivera Tomás Rivera (December 22, 1935 – May 16, 1984) was a Mexican American author, poet, and educator. He was born in Texas to migrant farm workers, and worked in the fields as a young boy. However, he achieved social mobility through education� ...

, and again at Santa Barbara from 1986 to 1987 after

Robert Huttenback Robert Arthur Huttenback (March 8, 1928–June 10, 2012) was the third chancellor of UC Santa Barbara from 1977 to 1986. He was ousted from the post in July 1986 after allegations surfaced that he and his wife Freda had embezzled US$174,087 from t ...

was accused of embezzling university funds to remodel his off-campus home. About this, Gardner later wrote that Aldrich was known as UC's " utility chancellor," and "was loved and effective wherever he served." Aldrich remained involved in athletics throughout his retirement including coaching Little League Baseball and winning medals in the

Senior Olympics The National Senior Games (Senior Olympics) are a sports competition for senior citizens in the United States. It is conducted by the National Senior Games Association (NSGA) once every two years. Akin to the Summer Olympics, it is a multi-sport ...

. In 2007, the Administration Building was named Aldrich Hall. In 2010 Aldrich was elected to the

USATF Masters Hall of Fame The USATF Masters Hall of Fame is the Masters section of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. It is intended to select worthy athletes from the various divisions of Masters athletics involved in the sports of track and field, road running an ...

.USATF Master

Retrieved Sep 9, 2023 He died on April 9, 1990, having served the University of California for 47 years.

References

External links

reference regarding UCR dates
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldrich, Daniel G. 1918 births 1990 deaths People from Northwood, New Hampshire University of Rhode Island alumni Chancellors of the University of California, Irvine Chancellors of the University of California, Riverside Chancellors of the University of California, Santa Barbara University of Arizona alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni University of California, Berkeley College of Natural Resources faculty University of California, Davis faculty 20th-century American academics American masters athletes