Staff and faculty from throughout the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ system are invited to a public memorial for 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ president emeritus and former 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Berkeley chancellor Clark Kerr. The ceremony starts at 3 p.m. today in Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall.
Kerr's contributions as a scholar, labor negotiator and national higher education leader will be celebrated. Speakers will include 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ President Robert Dynes; 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl; 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏLA Chancellor Emeritus Chuck Young; Kerr's son, Clark E. Kerr; and a granddaughter and current 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Berkeley student, Amber Kerr.
Kerr, a towering figure in higher education, died Dec. 1, 2003, at the age of 92. As president of the University of California, he was chief architect of the master plan that guided California public higher education for four decades and is still a national model.
"Every student and every campus leader alive today owes Clark Kerr a great debt of gratitude -- for it was his vision and his bold determination that helped create the modern university, and the idea that students from all walks of life should have access to college," said David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, upon learning of Kerr's death.