Orville Thompson, a professor emeritus, died from complications of a stroke on Oct. 6. He was 87.

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

Thompson was the first researcher in the U.S. to study off-farm agricultural careers, developing a manpower study that led to the revision of the secondary agricultural educational curriculum for California and other states. He initiated the college's peer advising system and was founding chair of the Department of Applied Behavioral Sciences. Thompson served as Internship and Career Center director for nine years.

The doors to the education world opened for Thompson through the GI Bill. Following four years of World War II duty in the Pacific Theater, he returned to his home state to obtain a bachelor's degree in agricultural education in 1948 from Montana State University. He later earned a master's degree in education at UC Davis and a doctorate in education, rural sociology and educational psychology from Cornell University. Later, he taught as a faculty member at UC Davis for 34 years.

In 2003, the university honored Thompson by naming one of its buildings in the Segundo student housing complex after him.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18 at the Davis Community Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be contributed to the UC Davis Foundation for the Thompson scholarship endowment.