Tuesday, October 21, 1997
Community Briefs
Former UC San Diego chancellor dies
William J. McGill, the psychologist who served as chancellor of
the University of California at San Diego in the tumultuous late
1960s, died Sunday of heart failure. He was 75.
McGill suffered a heart attack Wednesday and was being treated
at UCSD’s Thornton Hospital at the time of his death.
"Somehow, he brought a sense of community to the campus during
those very difficult times, and he always emphasized excellence in
scholarly work," said University of California President Richard C.
Atkinson, who had known Dr. McGill for four decades.
"Recruiting more minority group members to the university was a
very important agenda item for him."
McGill left UCSD in 1970 to become president of Columbia
University in New York. He returned to San Diego in 1980 as an
adjunct professor at UCSD.
McGill grew up in an Irish family, the son of a musician and the
grandson of an Irish immigrant dockworker. As a teenager, he sold
shoes in the Bronx section of New York City and ran an elevator at
Radio City Music Hall.
His years in academia began at Fordham University in New York
City, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
psychology. In 1953, he was awarded a doctorate in experimental
psychology from Harvard University. he university’s psychology
department.
McGill joined the UCSD faculty in 1965 as a professor of
psychology and co-founded the department of psychology. In 1968, as
head of the university’s Academic Senate, he chaired a search
committee to select a chancellor. The group came up with five
finalists but, with the campus in turmoil, no one wanted the
job.
McGill was recruited for the post himself and later admitted
that he accepted grudgingly. In 1979, President Carter named McGill
to head the Commission for a National Agenda for the Eighties.
McGill is survived by his wife, Ann, a daughter, Rowena
Springer, a son, William R. McGill. and two grandsons.
Private funeral services are being planned by the family, and a
public memorial is being organized by UCSD.
General Education reform put to the test
General education at UCLA will be significantly revised if the
proponents of a plan to reorganize general education get their way.
The GE reforms, which emphasize writing, critical thinking and
important social issues, will revolutionize general education and
are facing their first test.
The prototype for this plan is a year-long freshman class on the
global environment. A team taught by senior faculty members in six
departments, "The Global Environment: A Multidisciplinary
Perspective" is, according to Edward Berenson, UCLA’s chair of
general education, an "important and innovative step toward
interdisciplinary education."
Some 130 students are enrolled in the new course that
concentrates on analyzing environmental arguments and the data on
which those conclusions are drawn. The students will remain in the
cluster for all three academic quarters this year.
The fall and winter quarters will consist of lectures and
discussions, while in the spring quarter students will attend small
seminars focusing on specific environmental issues.
Professor of atmospheric sciences Richard Turco characterizes
the faculty attitude towards "The Global Environment" as
positive.
"Students should be taught this way more often – broadly and
across disciplines," he said.
"It’s an exciting experiment to offer a year-long freshman
course that breaks out of the traditional structure of schools,
divisions and departments, and it will be a learning experience for
all of us."
Compiled from Daily Bruin staff and wire reports.