'Deeply Loved' History Department Administrator Dies at 55

Linda Finch Hicks, an admired management services officer for UC Berkeley's Department of History, passed away from pancreatic cancer Sunday at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley. She was 55.

Hicks' health suddenly declined significantly in the last three weeks of her eight-month long struggle with the illness, said Hicks' husband, Kevin Hicks.

According to Mary Elizabeth Berry, chair of the history department, Linda Hicks' duties included overseeing department finances, human resources and student services.

Berry said Linda Hicks changed the tone of the department since arriving in 2004 to one of "joyfulness, dignity and elegant conduct."

"Running a department of this size is like running a huge, huge family, a complex human organization," Berry said. "(Hicks) mediated relationships between everyone ... she was deeply, deeply loved."

Kevin Hicks said his wife sought to be inclusive towards those around her.

"Her approach to professional and personal relationships was to find not areas of conflict but areas of commonality and to build on those," he said.

Born to a father who worked for the U.S. State Department, Linda Hicks lived in Japan, Korea and England during parts of her youth. She obtained an undergraduate degree in Japanese Language and Literature from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's in business administration from San Francisco State University.

In 1987, Hicks began a 22-year career at UC Berkeley. Her interests had shifted to educational administration, and she held positions in the art practice and philosophy departments before assuming her post in the history department in 2004.

Michael Schuering, a visiting professor in the campus departments of German and history, said Hicks was "cosmopolitan, well-read and internationally minded."

Schuering said Hicks was "pragmatic, analytical and enthusiastic" in planning the logistics of a recent trip to Germany he lead as a part of a History 103 class.

"(Hicks) handled the legal and bureaucratic issues in a very hands-on and organized way," Schuering said. "She was very comprehensive. She even told me I should buy a new phone so that we could stay in contact when I was in Germany."

Berry said that Hicks, "a person of the church," embraced life and was determined to live well.

Upwards of 100 people attended an impromptu memorial for Hicks in Dwinelle Hall on Monday. Kevin Hicks said a funeral will be held on Nov. 10 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Berkeley.

Hicks is survived by her husband, daughter Suzanna, mother Suzanne and two sisters Anna and Catherine.

Tags: DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY