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Regular Features

DCRP Celebrates 50 Years of Shaping the Built Environment

By Professor John Landis, Department of City and Regional Planning

When the Department of City and Regional Planning (DCRP) first opened its doors in 1948, it had one full-time faculty member -- department founder, T. J. "Jack" Kent Jr -- and five graduate students. From that low-key beginning, DCRP has grown into one of the nation's foremost city and regional planning programs with 20 professors and 150 graduate students.

In its first 50 years, more than 1,600 students have earned graduate or doctoral DCRP degrees and its PhD program has produced more planning professors than any planning program in the U.S. (according to figures published in "Graduate Planning Programs" by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning).

"Throughout the U.S., DCRP students, alumni, and faculty have played major roles in shaping urban policy, developing cities and suburbs, and conserving natural environments," said College of Environmental Design Dean Harrison Fraker.

In California, DCRP alumni have headed such organizations as BRIDGE Housing, the Greenbelt Alliance, and the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. DCRP faculty and alumni have also served in major policy roles in both the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the World Bank.

To celebrate its first 50 years, DCRP sponsored nearly a dozen events during 1997/98, culminating on May 9 with a day-long Alumni Jubilee where more than 250 alumni and students heard a series of panel discussions and lectures entitled the "Future of Everything."

May 9 also marked the publication of "50 Years of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley: A Celebratory Anthology of Faculty Essays." This 500-plus page book surveys the state of city planning, education, practice and research, including a history of DCRP and the practice of planning throughout the nation.

Past and present DCRP faculty contributors include Manuel Castells, Robert Cervero, Peter Hall, former Berkeley Chancellor Ira Michael Heyman, Allan B. Jacobs, AnnaLee Saxenian and Michael B. Teitz.

Copies of the book are available from DCRP, 228 Wurster Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1850. The department can also be reached at (510) 642-3257 or via e-mail at nkeita@uclink.berkeley.edu.

 

College of Environmental Design Honors Four Alumni

Four outstanding alumni of the College of Environmental Design were recognized at the college's graduation ceremony May 24 with a new award.

Recipients of CED's first annual outstanding alumni awards were textile artist Lia Cook, landscape architecture professor emeritus Garrett Eckbo, architect Raymond L. Kappe, and city and regional planning professor emeritus T. J. (Jack) Kent Jr.

Dean Harrison Fraker and CED Alumni Association President Peter H. Dodge, '56, presented the awards. The award for Jack Kent, who died April 26, was accepted by his wife, Mary Kent.

Lia Cook ('73, MA, design), is an internationally known textile artist and professor at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. Her work has been featured in exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad and featured on ABC TV's "Handmade in America: Conversations with Fourteen Craft Masters."

Garrett Eckbo ('35, BS, landscape architecture) helped found the modern landscape movement in the U.S. Eckbo's practice includes new towns, urban design and conservation work, commercial and industrial developments, civic and cultural facilities, housing, hospitals and private gardens.

He joined the landscape architecture faculty in 1965 and served as department chair from 1965 to 1969. Eckbo retired from full-time teaching at Berkeley in 1978.

A practicing architect for 45 years, Raymond L. Kappe ('51, AB, architecture), was a professor and founding chair of the Department of Architecture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture. His honors include the Topaz Medallion, the highest award for excellence in architecture education in the U.S., and dozens of design awards.

City and regional planning professor emeritus T. J. (Jack) Kent Jr. ('38, AB, architecture) was the founder and first chair of Berkeley's Department of City and Regional Planning. Kent served as a faculty member for 30 years until 1974, 12 of them as department chair.

He was a member of the Berkeley City Planning Commission from 1948 to 1957, a Berkeley City Council member from 1957 to 1965, second city planning director for the city of San Francisco and author of San Francisco's first master plan.

 

Capitol Hill Science Fairs Draw Berkeley Profs

by Michelle Barer Moskowitz, Public Affirs

Berkeley researchers represented the campus in two national research "science fairs" held on Capitol Hill in May, hoping to educate Congress members and their staffs about the importance of federal funding for university research.

The College of Natural Resources sent Steven Ruzin, director of the Center for Biological Imaging, to Agricultural Science Demonstration Day on May 19.

Marco Molinaro, director of two multimedia development facilities, one at the College of Chemistry and the other at the Lawrence Hall of Science, was sent by the College of Chemistry to participate in the Coalition for National Science Funding Exhibition on May 20.

Berkeley's participation along with UC Davis, UC Riverside, and UCLA was facilitated by UC's Office of Federal Relations in Washington, D.C. In addition to the event sponsors, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and the CNSF, nearly 40 other exhibitors from colleges and universities across the country took part in each event.

About 350 people visited Ruzin's display, which featured plants, graphical demonstration of research results, and students describing via computer screen and audio their research and how federal support had facilitated their work.

Ruzin met several legislative aides and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary.

At the CNSF Exhibition, Molinaro explained his research to scores of visitors including the Director of the National Science Foundation, Neal Lane, who was recently appointed as President Clinton's science advisor.

"Berkeley is very important to us," Lane told Molinaro, as he listened to Molinaro's description of developing interactive CD-ROMS for teaching science.

Molinaro showed how his NSF-funded educational multimedia had been used successfully in K-12 classrooms as well as at Berkeley and the Lawrence Hall of Science.

In addition to the conferences, Ruzin and Molinaro talked with House Science committee staff and California legislative aides about the importance of funding research and education.

Molinaro had a good feeling about the trip. "The visits were very well received and there was a lot of interest in what is happening here at Berkeley in terms of educational technology," he said.

 

Chancellor's Awards Recipients

Each academic year the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Honors reviews nominations and recommends various faculty and staff to the Chancellor for awards. During the past academic year, nine were honored with Chancellor awards.

The BERKELEY CITATION went to:

David A. Hodges, professor and former dean of the College of Engineering.

Peter C. Kerner, director of the Office of Media Services, on the occasion of his retirement.

Marian E. Koshland, professor of molecular and cell biology. Awarded posthumously.

Louise Taylor, director of the Office of Planning and Analysis, on the occasion of her retirement.

Michael B. Teitz, professor of city and regional planning, on the occasion of his retirement.

David K. C.Wood, professor of dramatic art.

Karin M. Beros, assistant dean of Budget and Management -- International and Area Studies, on the occasion of her retirement.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS were given to:

Verona K. Owen, College of Natural Resources, on the occasion of her retirement.

Margaret (Peggy) Southard, College of Chemistry, on the occasion of her retirement.

Berkeley honored non-campus individuals with the following awards:

The BERKELEY MEDAL was given to:

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, April 20, 1998, on the occasion of his address in Zellerbach Auditorium.

The CHANCELLOR'S DISTINGUISHED HONOR AWARD went to:

Hoi-Chang Lee, former Korean leader, on the occasion of a seminar he gave at Haas School of Business.

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of the Kingdom of Thailand, on the occasion of her visit to campus at the invitation of the Chancellor.

Indonesia's ambassador to the U.S., Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, on the occasion of his visit to campus.


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