DEATHS
Campus Suffers Loss of Many Over Break
James E. B. Breslin, professor of English and acting chair of the art practice department, died suddenly on Saturday, Jan. 6, of a heart attack. He was 60.
Meticulous as a scholar, persuasive in his sense of the excitement and urgency of his subject, ironic, edgy and elegant as a writer, he practiced the art of criticism with daring, freedom and independence.
Born in Brooklyn, Breslin received his BA from Brooklyn College in 1957, his MA in English from the University of North Carolina in 1959 and five years later his PhD in American literature from the University of Minnesota.
He joined the Berkeley English department in '64, bringing with him a passion for the revolutionary movements in American literature and painting that had most radically shaken up ideas about what art is and can do.
In 1994, when its future was in doubt because of a budget crisis, Breslin became chair of art practice, championing Berkeley's tradition of innovation in the visual arts.
Breslin's first book, published in 1970, was a full-length study of the poet William Carlos Williams. In 1983 he wrote, "From Contemporary to Modern: American Poetry 1945-65," a breakthrough study of mid-century poets.
In "Mark Rothko: A Biography," his most recent and best-known book, Breslin turned his attention to mid-century American painting at its most critical moment, the emergence of abstract expressionism.
The book was greeted by Hilton Kramer in the New York Times Book Review as "the best life of an American painter that has yet been written."
At the time of his death, Breslin was working on a biography of John Coltrane, the great jazz saxophonist who emerged from 1940s bop to define the possibilities of contemporary jazz.
Like his subjects, Breslin was a man who "reinvented himself" by taking on the lives and works of revolutionary artists dominant in the New York cultural scene of the 1950s.
He is survived by his wife, Ramsay, and daughters Jennifer of Lake County; Susannah of Oakland; and Nora of Berkeley.
Memorial donations may be made to the Department of Art Practice or to the American Heart Association.
Walter Horn, professor emeritus and art historian, died of pneumonia Dec. 26 in his Point Richmond home after a distinguished career as the first art history professor in the UC system.
Born in Germany in 1908, Horn came to the U.S. in 1938, joined the Army and served under General Patton.
After the war, he worked as a military investigator of stolen art treasures and even secured the recovery of the coronation regalia of the Holy Roman Empire from Nazi treasure troves.
Horn joined the Berkeley faculty in 1938. He published extensively, including a three-volume study of monastic community life in the ninth century, was influential in the establishment of the University Art Museum.
He was also a trustee of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Horn is survived by his wife, Alberta Parker Horn; son Michael of Chicago; daughters Rebecca of Salt Lake City and Robin Reid of Bend, Ore.; and grandson Matthew of San Anselmo.
Donations in his name can be sent to the Walter Horn Scholarship Fund, Department of History of Art.
Arthur Frederic Kip, professor emeritus and an early leader in discovering the fundamental physical properties of semiconductors, died of a heart attack Dec. 2 at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. He was 85.
Kip, a Berkeley PhD in physics ('39) who joined the faculty in 1951, worked in the field of experimental solid state physics.
For many years he led a research group in a series of fundamental experiments that examined the interactions of matter with microwave radiation.
The results of these experiments are to be found in close to 100 papers published in physics journals.
In the 1950s he and his laboratory colleagues exploited this expertise to make some of the first measurements of the basic properties of semiconductors only a few years after the discovery of transistors.
He also made important contributions in the areas of cyclotron resonance and electron spin resonance of metals.
Later in his career he took a keen interest in university affairs, participating in major committees of the Academic Senate.
He subsequently served for two years as chair of the Berkeley division (1966-68) and for one year as chair of the systemwide Academic Council (1973-74).
At his retirement he was honored with the Berkeley Citation in recognition of his distinguished contributions to the campus.
Kip was an enthusiastic and well-loved teacher, offering large lecture classes and training 26 doctoral students. He also wrote a widely used introductory college physics textbook,"Fundamentals of Electricity and Magnetism" (McGraw-Hill, 1962).
Kip is survived by his wife of 51 years, Joan (Hill) Kip; daughter Jennifer Kip Bier of Albany, Calif.; son Jonathan of Los Angeles; grandchildren Adam Bier and Megan Kip; and two sisters, Elizabeth Roach of San Diego and Margaret Nichols of Monterey, Mass.
Shiro Kobayashi, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering and former holder of the FANUC Chair in Mechanical Systems, died Dec. 20 of cancer at Alta Bates Medical Center.
Kobayashi, an expert in manufacturing systems and metal forming, was 71. He lived in El Cerrito.
A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Kobayashi came to Berkeley from Japan in 1956 to obtain both his MS and PhD in mechanical engineering. He was immediately hired as a lecturer in the department and in 1961 joined the faculty.
His research centered on computer-aided analysis of problems in manufacturing and the properties and behavior of formed metals and alloys. He retired in 1991, after publishing extensively and winning many awards for his work.
Kobayashi was the first holder of the FANUC Chair, which was endowed in 1989 by a $500,000 gift from FANUC, Ltd., a Japanese manufacturer of factory automation machines and systems.
The chair is designated to support work in mechanical systems, such as those for manufacturing, robotics, biomedical applications, information storage and processing, and other needs of high technology.
Kobayashi is survived by his wife, Suzue, and family in Japan.
G. Lawrence Rarick, professor emeritus of human biodynamics, died Dec. 15 at his home in Berkeley.
Age 84, Rarick was the author of six books and helped to change how society regards the disabled, particularly children.
His work indicated such children can achieve considerable levels of physical fitness and often share the same motor skills as other children.
During his career, Rarick was also on the faculty at Wichita State University and the University of Wisconsin.
He was also a consultant to the foundation that sponsors the Special Olympics, the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, for 15 years.
Rarick is survived by his wife, Mary, of Berkeley; sons Thomas of San Francisco and David of Minneapolis; daughter Janet of Houston; sister Lois Cooke of Fullerton; and a grandson.
Memoranda mailed to deans, directors, department chairs and administrative officers issued on the chancellor's mailing lists. For copies, contact originating offices.
PERSONNEL
Drug Testing
Steps are under way to implement a U.S. Department of Transportation regulation that mandates random drug and alcohol testing for a small group of employees required to have commercial drivers licenses as part of their university related responsibilities.
The regulations went into effect Jan. 1, 1995, for agencies with 50 or more covered employees and Jan. 1, 1996, for agencies with fewer than 50 covered employees.
Current employees are part of the pool of individuals covered by the regulations. Employees transferring into positions covered by the rule will be required to undergo substance abuse testing before their transfers are final.
Once transferred into the designated position, they too will be part of the pool for random testing.
Additionally, the law requires that individuals applying to the university for positions covered by the regulations must identify previous employees for whom the applicant was a commercial motor vehicle driver.
Before a job offer is confirmed, individuals must pass a pre- employment substance abuse test unless the waiver criteria, as specified by law, are met.
An implementation planning team composed of representatives from Personnel, Parking and Transportation Services and CARE has to date identified employees in classifications in the following departments as those impacted: Environmental Health and Safety, Richmond Field Station, Parking and Transportation, Child Care Services, and Office of Physical Resources
An orientation program for supervisors and employees is currently being planned. Impacted employees will be notified by their supervisors and given relevant information.
CAMPUS MEMOS
Memoranda mailed to deans, directors, department chairs, and administrative officers issued on the chancellor's mailing lists. For copies, contact originating offices.
Nov. 30, Report of Authorization of New Degree, Master of Urban Design, from Carol T. Christ, The Vice Chancellor and Provost.
AWARDS
Robert B. Ruddell, professor of education, is the 1995-96 recipient of the Oscar S. Causey Award. The award is the National Reading Conference's highest honor, given in recognition of significant lifetime contributions to research and theory.
Charles Townes has been selected by the Optical Society of America to receive the 1996 Frederic Ives Medal/Quinn Endowment.
Townes is being honored for five decades of major contributions to the field of optics.
STAFF ENRICHMENT
Employee Development and Training
For more information, for copies of the 1995-96 Employee Development and Training catalog or for information on how to enroll in classes, call 642-8134.
New Horizons For Current Employees
Feb. 1, 8:30 am-noon.
Are you interested in an upward or lateral job change or have you thought of working in another department? If your answer is yes, this class may provide the answers you need to take advantage of new employment opportunities for current campus employees.
Manager as Career Coach: Developing Staff to Their Full Potential
Feb. 2 and 9, 8:30 am-noon.
The employee is expected to be a self-advocate for his or her own career development. There are, however, many advantages to managers assisting their staff with career development planning: better use of employee skills, increased employee motivation and more time for managers as a result of delegating developmental tasks to staff. The goal of this workshop is to offer training, support, resources and hands-on career coaching experience for managers on campus.
New Employee Orientation
Feb. 6, 8:30 am-noon.
This program provides an opportunity for new employees to learn about the University of California and the campus, meet new employees from other departments and obtain information.