Five retired UC Davis faculty and staff members will be honored Saturday at a ceremony marking the completion of The Colleges at LaRue, the newest student residential complex on campus.
The Colleges at LaRue is a 450-bedroom complex housing more than 600 students in five thematic "pods." Each of the five courts will be named for faculty and staff who have contributed to the undergraduate life of UC Davis students. The honorees are:
• Ruth Anderson, dean of women, retired 1987.
• Robert Matthews, senior lecturer, Department of Geology, re-
tired 1996.
• Harry Walker, senior lecturer, Land, Air and Water Resources, retired 1990.
• Marya Welch, supervisor, Physical Education, retired 1987.
• Emmy Werner, professor of Human and Community Development, retired 1994.
Ruth Anderson, who served as dean of women for 20 years, helped found the original Women’s Center on campus in 1968 (now the Women’s Resources and Research Center) as well as the Network for Graduate and Faculty Women. She also was a force behind the implementation of Title IX at Davis, the federal law prohibiting discrimination against female athletes at high schools and colleges that receive federal funds. She is being honored as a source of inspiration and help to countless women students and for her contribution to the campus’s awareness and sensitivity in regard to women’s issues.
Robert Matthews helped establish an environmental geology program within the Department of Geology at UC Davis. He set aside his own pursuit of a doctoral degree to devote his efforts to the program and to teaching. After retiring in 1996, he completed his doctoral requirements and was awarded the Ph.D. that he began in 1968. Matthews, who specialized in engineering geology and hydrogeology, continues to be involved with students.
Harry Walker headed the exploratory program in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, which was created to assist students with career decisions and major courses of study. Matthews was also active in the summer advising program that welcomed new students and prepared them for their first year at Davis. In addition, he developed numerous courses designed to alert students to the relationship between natural resources and their wellbeing.
Marya Welch, the first woman hired in the physical education department at UC Davis, played a key role in establishing intramural and extramural sports programs for women. During her 40-year career, she was a leader in state organizations committed to the advancement of women’s athletics. In addition to her contributions to women’s athletics, she served as dean of women for two years, and was inducted as an honorary member into the Prytanean Honor Society.
Emmy Werner, an internationally recognized developmental psychologist, has spent a lifetime studying how children cope when confronted with adversity. She has served as a role model to generations of students through her research and her teaching. She has published several books on children of the western migration, the Civil War and World War II. Since her retirement in 1994, she has continued to teach undergraduates as well as supervise graduate students.
Saturday’s ceremony will take place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at The Colleges at LaRue Community Center, 164 LaRue Road. Parking is available in Lot 35 on Orchard Park Drive near the corner of LaRue Road.