Three former UC Davis faculty members — Orville Thompson, Henry Alder and Bryan Miller — were honored during a round of building namings at the new student housing in Segundo Infill.

These namings continue the practice in recent years of naming new student residence buildings to honor Academic Senate, Academic Federation and staff colleagues who have made outstanding contributions to undergraduate education at UC Davis.

A ceremony officially honoring the three latest honorees will take place this fall, said Bob Franks, associate vice chancellor for student affairs.

Located at the southeast corner of LaRue and Russell Boulevards, the $24 million Segundo Infill housing complex will open this Fall Quarter with space for 380 freshman beds.

“We are pleased to have this opportunity to show our gratitude not only to these distinguished faculty members but to their families as well,” said Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. “It is fitting that these new student housing buildings are named after them.”

Bob Smiggen, director of student housing, said the Segundo Infill “exemplifies one of the goals of student housing, which is to provide high-quality housing to students while enhancing their academic support and providing numerous social activities.”

He added that an open house at the Segundo Infill — a separate event from the ceremony honoring the namings — will be held from 3-5 p.m. on Oct. 17.

About the honorees

Thompson, a professor emeritus, was one of the founding faculty of the Department of Human and Community Development. From 1954 until his retirement in 1988, he was extremely active in undergraduate education, particularly with regard to actions that backed up his strong beliefs in multi-disciplinary education and in helping students to develop their own specializations within their majors.

Thompson remains dedicated to interdisciplinary, hands-on educational experiences for UC Davis undergraduates and has played a vital role in the development of the Work-Learn Career Planning and Placement Center. The center provides internship experiences for students. Since his retirement, he has remained active in Human and Community Develop-ment and has served on the International House Board of Directors for several years.

Alder, a professor emeritus of mathematics, researched and taught on the Davis campus for more than 50 years. He served as the chair of a minority undergraduate research program and a chair of a committee to help culturally disadvantaged students. He also helped establish a national awards program for outstanding college mathematics instructors, endowed a fund to honor outstanding graduate student teaching in mathematics, and served on the state Board of Education. Alder, who retired in 1992, died in 2002.

Miller, a professor of chemistry, served UC Davis for 30 years and distinguished himself as one of its finest teachers. Nominators noted that what made his approach to teaching noteworthy was the degree of care he devoted to every aspect of his preparation. He viewed problems from the new student’s point of view, crafting presentations and pedagogical aids that could bring the student toward an appreciation of the thought processes involved in solving scientific problems.

Colleagues say Miller succeeded as a teacher because he worked to transition the faculty-student relationship into one of mutual collegial intellectual interaction. He brought this approach, normally associated with mentoring of graduate students, to the undergraduate classroom and laboratory. Miller died in 1998.

The naming process

The process of selecting the naming opportunities started with Chancellor Vanderhoef sending a letter to the Academic Senate, Academic Federation and Staff Assembly. In it he asked for nominations of faculty and staff who meet the nomination criteria. A small committee then was charged with screening the nominations and making recommendations. Campus policy requires that nominees be retired or deceased for at least two years at the time of nomination.

In fall 2002, faculty and staff members were honored during a second round of building namings at the student residential complex The Colleges at LaRue. Five former campus employees all had buildings within a residential court named after them — Isao Fujimoto, who helped found the Asian American Studies program; Lucille Hurley, a founding member of the nutrition department; Sumner Morris, the first full-time director of the Campus Counseling Center; Frank Ogasawara, who helped found the campus’s raptor center; and David Risling, who established Native American Studies at UC Davis and DQ University.

The complex’s community center was named for Merna Villarejo, who joined the UC Davis faculty in 1975 and served as associate dean for undergraduate studies in the Division of Biological Sciences from 1988 to 1993.

In December 2000, five other faculty and staff members were recognized with namings during a ceremony marking the completion of The Colleges at LaRue. At that time, the five courts of the complex were named.

Honorees were Ruth Anderson, who helped found the Women’s Center on campus in 1968; Robert Matthews, who helped establish an environmental geology program within the Depart-ment of Geology; Harry Walker, who headed the exploratory program in the College of Agricul-tural and Environmental Sciences to assist students with career decisions; Marya Welch, who played a key role in establishing intramural and extramural sports programs for women; and Emmy Werner, a developmental psychologist who served as a role model to generations of students through her research and her teaching.