Sanford Hirshen, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of architecture, died on Oct. 2 in Oakland. He was 78.

Hirshen began lecturing in UC Berkeley’s department of architecture in 1966 and became a professor of architecture in 1974, eventually serving as chair of the department. He also served as the director of the campus Center for Planning and Development Research.

Hirshen worked to improve conditions in migrant community housing and oversaw various community design projects. His efforts spanned from public housing to rehabilitation centers.

“Early in his career, Sandy began experimenting in ways to create humane environments for people who did not have much money,” said Stephen Tobriner, Hirshen’s colleague and also a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of architecture. “Here is somebody who had these ideas of providing shelter for people and did it with elegant aesthetic.”

Hirshen grew up in New York City and attended the New York High School of Music & Art, where he met his wife of 56 years, Vivian.

“I had a crush on him at the age of 14,” said Vivian Hirshen. “He was 16, but we were in the same class, and I just attached myself to him and he to me. He was just a very special person.”

After graduating high school, Hirshen received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Columbia University in 1959 and was awarded a William Kinne Fellows Memorial Fellowship, which allowed him to travel and study in Europe.

When Hirshen returned from Europe in 1960, he served in the U.S. Army and worked at several architectural firms. In 1965, Hirshen partnered with Sim Van Der Wyn, a high school classmate and colleague at UC Berkeley, and three others to found an award-winning architectural practice. The firm focused on underserved populations, carrying out projects including the construction of 33 camps for migrant workers between 1965 and 1974.

“Sandy was class president, and I was class treasurer,” Van Der Wyn said. “With Sandy, he was always good at knowing who he was and he was all about serving people who were underserved in society. I certainly miss him.”

A fellow of both the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Canadian Institute of Architects, Hirshen acted as the director of the School of Architecture at the University of British Columbia from 1991 to 1999. Hirshen retired in 2000 and returned to the Bay Area in 2009 to be close to his family and friends.

“Sandy’s approach in doing community design has influenced a whole generation of architects and because of him, students have completely different agendas as architects,” said Mui Ho, Hirshen’s colleague at UC Berkeley and an architect at her private practice in Berkeley. “He sought out works that had social components and students learned from him.”

Donations can be made to the Sandy Hirshen Prize in the department of architecture at the College of Environmental Design, which is an award given annually to an undergraduate or graduate architecture student whose works relate to socially responsible architecture.

Hirshen is survived by his wife and two children. A memorial service will be held later this fall.

Jane Nho covers student government. Contact her at jnho@dailycal.org.

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Henry Lagorio, an expert in seismic design and a professor emeritus of architecture at UC Berkeley, died after a six-year struggle with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases Oct. 1. He was 90.

Lagorio was a professor in the UC Berkeley department of architecture for 43 years. His study of architectural design for earthquake safety led to his collaboration with many federal organizations, developing methods for mitigating consequences of earthquakes and plans for recovery after a disaster.

As associate dean of the College of Environmental Design, he helped launch the Center for Environmental Design Research, which fosters studies in sustainable building technologies and design.

“(He) was a mentor — a man to be admired and a role model,” said Richard Bender, Lagorio’s colleague and a professor emeritus of architecture. “His solid footing and friendships in the ‘earthquake world’, the National Science Foundation and the American Institute of Architects set us on a path to interesting and groundbreaking work.”

Lagorio received a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1944 and a master’s in architecture in 1945 from UC Berkeley after a teacher at Oakland Technical High School suggested he explore the field.

After graduating, he served in the U.S. Army at the end of World War II. Discharged as a staff sergeant, he was invited by Robert Gordon Sproul, the 11th UC president, to teach first-year architecture courses at UC Berkeley.

A pioneer in his field, Lagorio was the first architect to serve with the NSF in the Research Applied to National Needs division, working on projects to improve industrial sectors of the country.  He was also the first architect to be a member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, serving on its various committees and on the editorial board of Earthquake Spectra, the institute’s professional journal.

During a sabbatical in Rome, Lagorio met Natalie Coce, who was working as a secretary at the U.S. embassy. The two were both from Oakland, and they married in San Francisco in 1962.

“He was very quiet with a tremendous sense of humor,” said Natalie Lagorio.

Strengthening architectural research was a priority for Lagorio, who worked to legitimize the role of architects in the field of earthquake-hazard design and research. In 1978, he was asked by the University of Hawaii to help advance its department of architecture into the School of Architecture. He became a Fellow of the AIA in 1997.

Elizabeth Byrne, former head of the Environmental Design Library at UC Berkeley, fondly remembered Lagorio as a “lovely, kind and very smart guy” who was “a joy to work with.”

Lagorio is survived by his wife.

A funeral mass will be  held Oct. 17 at 10:30 a.m. at Newman Hall, Holy Spirit Parish, 2700 Dwight Way at College Avenue.

Contact Jeff Landa at jlanda@dailycal.org.

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Patricia Buffler, a world-class researcher and dean emeritus of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, died from a stroke in her office Thursday. She was 75 years old.

Buffler, known affectionately as “Pat” by colleagues and family, was a leader in all of her occupations, which ranged from epidemiologist to advocate to homemaker.

As an epidemiologist, Buffler pioneered research in childhood leukemia and other cancers. Her many initiatives included the California Childhood Leukemia Study, launched in 1995 to examine how genes, diet and environmental exposure relate to the development of leukemia in juveniles. To date, the study remains one of the largest in the world.

Although Buffler was distinguished in her field, colleagues said she never concerned herself with status. Lisa Barcellos, a campus associate professor of epidemiology, first came under Buffler’s mentorship 11 years ago and was surprised by her affable personality, which she calls “rare in academia.”

“She was warm, personable, gracious,” Barcellos said. “She had a wonderful sense of humor.”

Buffler began her career when she enrolled at the Catholic University of America, going against her father’s wishes and becoming the first person in her family to attend college.

“Her father didn’t want her to go to college,” her husband, Richard Buffler, said. “And if she did, he wanted her to study something practical. So she chose medicine.”

While attending university, Buffler’s charisma quickly distinguished itself. Classmates elected her homecoming queen one year, and she briefly dated actor Jon Voight, her husband said.

After graduating in 1960, Buffler moved to New York, where she worked as a public health nurse. She later met her husband on a blind date arranged by one of his friends. The two married in 1962 and moved to California, where Buffler earned her doctorate in epidemiology in 1973.

“She was told, ‘We don’t have many women in public health,’ ” Richard Buffler remembered.

After holding various faculty positions at the University of Texas, Buffler returned to UC Berkeley as a professor of epidemiology and dean of the School of Public Health. She became the second woman in the school’s history to hold the latter position, according to Arthur Reingold, a UC Berkeley professor and head of the campus division of epidemiology.

During her 22-year tenure, Buffler was a strong advocate for women in science and health, often offering professional and personal guidance.

“I was surprised at how many women had a story on how Pat had helped them,” said Amy Kyle, a UC Berkeley associate adjunct professor.

Buffler is survived by her husband; her two children, Martyn and Monique; and her five grandchildren.

“She was always thinking ahead for their welfare,” her husband said. “That’s who Pat was. She never stopped helping, for them or for anyone.”

The campus School of Public Health plans to host a campus memorial Nov. 10.

Contact Savannah Luschei at sluschei@dailycal.org.

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Known for his love of nature and teaching, UC Berkeley professor emeritus Robert Stebbins died Monday surrounded by his family. He was 98.

During his time on campus, Stebbins became the first faculty member to teach herpetology, the  study of amphibians and reptiles, and the first herpetologist curator at the UC Berkeley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.

“He always saw his role as education, trying to help people understand,” said David Wake, Stebbins’ colleague and a professor in the department of integrative biology. “Just a quiet, reserved, very sincere person (with a) deep love for animals, plants and nature.”

Stebbins’ passion for nature came from hikes through the Santa Monica hills and from his father, who took him birdwatching when he was a child, said Theodore Papenfuss, a research scientist at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.

One of his notable discoveries was a salamander ring species in California’s Central Valley. A ring species has a geographic distribution that forms a ring that overlaps at its ends. All species interbreed with their immediate neighbors except the “ends” where they overlap.

“If you’re thinking about how species form, how species come into being, then Stebbins’ work is absolutely fundamental,” Wake said. “It may be one of the most important pieces of work published in the 20th century.”

In 1966, Stebbins published “A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians,” a guide elementary and doctoral students alike use in their outdoor activities, according to Papenfuss.

“People who work with the guide don’t even say what it is,” Papenfuss said. “They just say, ‘It’s my Stebbins guide’, and everybody knows.”

Recently, California researchers discovered four legless lizard species and named one of them — Anniella stebbinsi — after Stebbins to honor his contribution to the field.

Stebbins also took an active role in desert preservation.

He once took former U.S. senator Alan Cranston to a desert in Southern California to observe the environment and organisms, Wake said. His activism in contacting lawmakers helped lead to the creation of Mojave National Preserve and the expansion of Death Valley National Park in 1994.

Wake recalled a time when Stebbins was particularly upset by off-road vehicles damaging desert environments and decided to get to know the people driving them.

“These people who are doing this are good people,” Stebbins told Wake. “They take their children out on the weekends in the desert. They’re trying to enjoy it, but they don’t understand how.”

Stebbins came back from one of those trips “almost weeping,” Wake remembered.

“Here he was battling these people,” Wake said. “At the same time, he had the deepest sympathy for them.”

Stebbins married Anna-Rose Stebbins in 1941 and is survived by three children.

Contact Daniel Tutt at dtutt@dailycal.org.

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La’akea Sky Smith was known as a brother to more than just his family. A practicing Buddhist, the UC Berkeley junior wrote poetry, practiced traditional Tibetan dance and would get “stoked” about the mundane things in life, according to his best friend, Grant Harrison.

Two weeks ago, the recent transfer into the College of Natural Resources died from injuries sustained in a vehicular accident on the night of Sept. 8. Smith had attended classes for just one week when he was hit by an SUV while riding his motorcycle in Oakland and died early the next morning. He was 23.

Many friends and family members described him as passionate and goofy with a wide variety of interests — an intellectual who enjoyed surfing, meditating and playing guitar.

“Sky was excited about everything he was involved with — he didn’t have his identity rooted in just one thing,” said Harrison, a UC Berkeley junior. “He made life light and joked about everything.”

Harrison said that as a friend, Smith made an effort to be inclusive and had a sense of humor that made “others feel funny.”

“People were immediately drawn to his brilliance, his love and compassion,” said his mother, Janet Graves. “After his passing, what was revealed to me was just how many communities he had been a part of and how many people he had impacted.”

Smith was born in Hawaii and moved to Idaho in 2003. Four years later, he moved to Santa Cruz, where he lived in a Buddhist center with his mother and younger brother. Though he graduated from high school as a National Merit Scholar, he declined a full scholarship to the University of Idaho at Moscow and instead stayed home to improve his health. He enrolled in Cabrillo College in Aptos, Calif., in 2008.

While attending community college, Smith was part of the college’s honors program and founded a sustainability initiative on campus. He entered UC Berkeley this fall as a conservation and resource studies major, intending to focus on ecology and sustainability issues.

Michael Mangin, a history professor from Cabrillo College, described Smith as a good combination of a writer and a thinker, always willing to go for the more difficult analyses in his papers.

“In community college, you meet people with all sorts of experiences. Sky was very young, but he had already absorbed a lot of life and was very open and passionate,” Mangin said. “He needs to be recognized for the jewel that he was.”

Graves said she remembers her son for his sense of humor — she said Smith used to wink at everyone he knew. His colleagues at the bistro he worked at joked about having a jar for money every time someone had been “winked at by Sky.”

In his first week on campus, Smith met with the College of Natural Resources academic adviser Eva Wong to plan out his time at UC Berkeley.

“He was really excited to be here and get started with the next chapter in his life,” Wong said. “From my brief interactions with Sky, I could tell he was going to be a special student.”

Since his passing, friends and family have expressed their condolences through social media and have also held memorials for Smith. Additionally, the honors program at Cabrillo College is considering establishing a scholarship in his name for future students transferring to UC Berkeley, said program adviser Carolyn Jackson.

He is survived by his parents, two brothers and two sisters.

“After he passed, his friends assured me that he was 100 percent happy with his life,” Graves said. “His last post on his Facebook was, ‘My life turns me on.’ He was so grateful to be here.”

Contact Sophie Ho and Tahmina Achekzai at newsdesk@dailycal.org.

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Maliq Nixon left no student group untouched.

A UC Berkeley sophomore and a political activist, Nixon was pronounced dead early Saturday morning at Stebbins Hall, a Northside co-op on Ridge Road where he was living. He was 19.

The cause of death is unknown, according to the Berkeley Police Department.

Since Saturday, there has been an outpouring of condolences on social media and from Nixon’s friends as they recall his infectious spirit.

A history major who friends say was known for his strong convictions and tireless energy, Nixon was active in campus politics. Last year, he volunteered for Cal Berkeley Democrats, interned at the Gender Equity Resource Center and worked on multiple campaigns for the campus political party CalSERVE. This year, he was already hard at work volunteering for CalSERVE Senator Briana Mullen.

“If you were to ask someone if they knew Maliq Nixon, they would know Maliq Nixon,” said CalDems President Sofie Karasek. “He was one of those people who you could bond over knowing. He brought people together just by virtue of being himself.”

Despite having a packed schedule, Nixon made time to enjoy a number of outside interests, according to close friend Ross Cunningham. He was always listening to rap group OFWGKTA, and he loved La Burrita horchatas. He also used to carry a purse — a habit Karasek remembered fondly.

“Even if he wasn’t happy, he’d make sure that other people were,” said UC Berkeley junior Marcel Jones, who knew Nixon through CalSERVE.

Many friends remember Nixon as a captivating orator. His voice would rise in volume as he became more and more engrossed in a debate.

Caitlin Quinn, a CalSERVE senator, said she first took notice of Nixon’s civic engagement before he arrived at UC Berkeley. The incoming freshman was an avid poster on the Class of 2016 Facebook page, where he often engaged in debates. While most freshmen were just settling into the residence halls, Nixon helped Quinn register incoming students to vote.

Cunningham, a UC Berkeley sophomore, also connected with Nixon early in their freshman year. The pair met during Welcome Week and quickly developed a close friendship.

“He lived in his head, often quiet and withdrawn, but he was always willing to talk with you when you’re feeling upset,” Cunningham said in a Facebook message. “He gave so much and expected nothing in return.”

At the time of his death, Nixon was working for Mullen, advocating greater access to mental health services on campus. Mullen said Nixon felt the university “wasn’t doing enough.”

Mullen and others recall Nixon advocating the inclusion of Northside co-ops in the ASUC-sponsored Berkeley redistricting map at a recent ASUC Senate meeting — another issue about which he was vocal.

“He was at every senate, every committee meeting,” Mullen said. “You couldn’t pay most Cal students to sit through those.”

Interim Dean of Students David Surratt said the campus has reached out to Nixon’s family since the death was announced. Plans for a memorial service are pending, Quinn said.

“He was very passionate and very radical, but he would be really really respectful of people that wouldn’t always agree with him,” Quinn said. “And that’s rare. I was really looking forward to seeing where he was going to go.”

Contact Libby Rainey and Savannah Luschei at newsdesk@dailycal.org

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article incorrectly said that Maliq Nixon was a prospective history major. In fact, he was a declared history major.

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Roderic Park, a former top-ranking UC Berkeley administrator and a professor of botany and plant biology, died in his home last Friday. He was 81.

Those who knew Park say he is best remembered for his contribution to the reorganization of UC Berkeley’s biological science departments in the 1990s. He led the effort that combined smaller departments to form what are now known as the integrative biology and molecular and cell biology departments.

“It takes quite a good diplomat to try to get faculty to go along with that kind of change,” said Brent Mishler, director of the University and Jepson Herbaria, a campus facility that houses more than 2 million plant specimens.

Park joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1960, serving as a professor, researcher and administrator over the course of his 30 years at the campus. He last served as chair of the trustees of the University and Jepson Herbaria.

During his career, Park published 84 research papers and was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1962, he discovered quantasomes, which are particles found in chloroplasts.

According to Bob Buchanan, a professor emeritus in the campus department of plant and microbial biology, Park helped raise money for the construction of Koshland Hall and the Life Sciences Addition, as well as the renovation of the Valley Life Sciences Building.

“He really left a mark on this campus,” Buchanan said. “His departure was a great loss to the university.”

During his time as the equivalent of what is now executive vice chancellor, Park was a strong advocate for affirmative action. He worked to increase the number of underrepresented students and faculty members by advocating for relevant policies, including one mandating that underrepresented students automatically receive student housing, said John Cummins, who worked in the chancellor’s office when Park was a vice chancellor in the 1980s.

“He was the person that ran the campus from the inside,” Cummins said.

Park was also involved in managing campus response to protests. During the 1985 and 1986 protests against apartheid in South Africa, Park played a major role in keeping the protest safe for both authorities and protesters, Cummins said. Park was part of a committee called the Operations Group, which met to make decisions related to managing the protest.

In addition to his contributions to UC Berkeley, Park helped choose the location for the UC Merced campus and served as the campus’ senior associate for academic development from 2000 to 2001. In 2006, Park returned to UC Merced to serve as interim chancellor.

“He really loved the University of California,” said Jane Lawrence, vice chancellor of student affairs at UC Merced.

In addition to his academic and administrative contributions to the University of California, Park owned a vineyard, built a two-seater airplane and was a sailor who participated in the He is survived by his wife, three children, a stepson and eight grandchildren.

Contact Lydia Tuan at ltuan@dailycal.org.

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Revered science-fiction author and UC Berkeley alumnus Jack Vance passed away May 26. He was 96.

Vance began his writing career at The Daily Californian and went on to publish more than 60 books. One of his works, “The Dragon Masters,” won him the Hugo Award in 1963, leading to his induction later in the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2001.

Though Vance never quite reached the celebrity status of other authors in the genre, such as John Varley or Dan Simmons, he gained a devoted following for his skillful prose. His work influenced best-selling authors like Stephen King and George R.R. Martin.

“His work has distinctive elegance,” said Michael Dirda, a Pulitzer-Prize winning book critic for the Washington Post, describing his style as “witty and ingratiated with rhythm.”

On meeting Vance, Dirda noted the difference between Vance’s image on and off the page. “In person, he was extremely down-to-earth, dressed very ordinarily and played the ukulele. But his style was urbane and sophisticated. He wrote like a dandy, like Oscar Wilde and P.G. Wodehouse.”

A Bay Area native, Vance grew up in Oakley, Calif., and lived in Oakland for most of his life. He enrolled in UC Berkeley in fall 1937 as a physics major but changed his major to English after developing an interest in journalism working for the Daily Cal.

According to his memoir, “This is Me, Jack Vance!”, Vance was a student of the Great Depression and began working at the Daily Cal his freshman year as a part of the Works Progress Administration, earning $60 a month.

Vance quickly formed a group of friends who shared an inclination for revelry that included “beer-drinking, jazz music and staff parties which occurred at an isolated site in the hills east of town.”

Vance left campus in his junior year to work for the Navy at Pearl Harbor. Though he returned to UC Berkeley and enrolled in classes, he never completed his studies.

“He just liked learning and was interested in self-education,” said Carlo Rotella, director of American Studies at Boston College who interviewed Vance for a piece in 2009.

For the remainder of World War II, Vance worked with the merchant marines and began writing fiction in the 1940s on decks of ships while traveling the Pacific.

Aside from his writing, many remember Vance for his friendly, boisterous personality.

“Vance and [his wife] Norma were always so great to work with because they made me feel like I was doing a good job,” said Beth Meacham, Vance’s publisher and former editor in chief of Tor Books.

Vance’s wife Norma passed away in March 2008. Vance is survived by his son, John Holbrook Vance II.

Contact Hannah Lee at jhlee@dailycal.org.

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Kenneth Waltz, a prominent thinker in international relations known as the father of the political theory neorealism, died on May 12. He was 88.

Waltz joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1971 and became professor emeritus of political science before leaving for Columbia University in 1994. His most influential works, “Man, the State, and War” (1959) and “Theory of International Politics” (1979) introduced new arguments about state behavior in international relations that spearheaded political thought in the postwar era.

The preceding dominant theory of international relations, realism, attributed state behavior to human nature. Waltz introduced neorealism as an alternative explanation, attributing states’ behavior to the contexts they are in as well as systemic reasons. According to neorealism, states exist in a world with no central authority and pursue their own interests for self-survival.

“His theory of neorealism plays such a central role that you couldn’t teach ‘Intro to International Relations’ without teaching it,” said professor Amy Gurowitz, one of Waltz’s former students, who now teaches the introductory international relations course on campus. Waltz is also known for his controversial argument in his 1981 monograph, “The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: More May Be Better,” which says that nuclear proliferation would enhance international security.

James Fearon, a professor of political science at Stanford University, was advised on his thesis by Waltz and said Waltz was always nuanced in his thinking and thought long and hard on the issues he cared about, such as nuclear deterrence.

“One of the things he took exception to in my thesis was that I wasn’t sufficiently distinguishing between deterrence and defense,” Fearon said. “He was upset by the way deterrence has migrated to mean any attempt to dissuade another state from doing anything.”

Waltz leaves behind a legacy through mentoring accomplished political thinkers, including Robert Gallucci, president of the MacArthur Foundation, and Barry Posen, director of MIT’s Security Studies Program.

Shibley Telhami, a former student of Waltz and current Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, College Park, said he was greatly influenced by and resonated with Waltz’s writing. When he decided to switch subjects — to political science from mathematics and philosophy — the first book he read was “Man, the State, and War.”

“It was brilliant,” Telhami said. “It was new to me, so I immediately went to meet him, and told him I was interested in doing a Ph.D.”

Robert Jervis, a professor of international politics at Columbia University, knew Waltz since he was an undergraduate student and later became a longtime friend and colleague.

“He was already a leading IR theorist, and here I was — just got my Ph.D. and just started teaching, and he treated me as a peer,” Jervis said.

Waltz also encompassed many attributes that contradicted his public image.

“Waltz had an image,” Telhami said. “The image was that he was a power guy. He was opposite of that; he was a warm and caring person. His realism led him, more often, to oppose war.”

Waltz emphasizes in “Theory of International Relations” that he means to describe general state behavior rather than specific foreign policies and state actions. However, Steven Weber, a professor of political science at UC Berkeley, said that Waltz was still interested in policy issues, contrary to his reputation.

In addition to his professional interests, Waltz also loved opera and art and visited numerous opera houses in New York in his free time, according to Jervis.

Waltz’s wife, the former Helen Lindsley, died in 2008. Waltz is survived by his two sons, Daniel and Kenneth, as well as four grandchildren.

Contact Mary Zhou mzhou@dailycal.org.

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Paul Alpers, a longtime UC Berkeley English professor and the founding director of the UC Berkeley Townsend Center for the Humanities, passed away on Sunday after a battle with cancer. He was 80.

A pioneer of interdisciplinary studies on campus and an expert in Renaissance literature, the professor of 38 years was known for expanding the scope of scholarship within his department and helping bridge divides between siloed academic departments.

“He was a scholar, a gentleman — seriously committed to the academic enterprise at Berkeley and making it work, not only at his own department but across boundaries into different departments with different people and different interests,” said Randy Starn, director of the Townsend Center from 1996 to 2000.

Alpers came to Berkeley in 1964 after receiving his master’s degree and doctorate in English from Harvard University. As a professor of comparative literature and English, he quickly built a rapport with colleagues and students as one of the school’s most respected faculty members, winning the 1972 Distinguished Teaching Award, the top teaching award at UC Berkeley.

“He had a warm, generous and rigorous intelligence,” said Anthony Cascardi, dean of arts and humanities in the College of Letters and Science. “He spoke to you as a colleague and as a teacher, and he always seemed to preserve his interactions with his colleagues and his students. He was the essence of what it means to be a humanist.”

Emblematic of Alpers’ focus on interdisciplinary studies was the founding of the UC Berkeley Townsend Center for the Humanities, created in 1987 to more efficiently connect disparate talent on campus.

Rather than bringing in outside talent, the focus of the center was on fostering and developing relationships with various campus humanities departments, offering support for its members through fellowships, scholarships and publishing papers.

“He saw the need for interdisciplinary studies,” Cascardi said, “and he saw the need for interdisciplinary studies long before it was fashionable to do that.”

As founding director of the center from 1987 to 1992, Alpers helped lay the groundwork for the burgeoning organization’s sustained success.

“Paul felt we needed an internal center for the people that were already at Berkeley,” said Christina Gillis, associate director of the center from 1988 to 2004. “Berkeley was such a lively place. We needed more connection between the faculties here, and that was right. That is what we needed at Berkeley.”

Alpers also used this interdisciplinary mentality as an English professor, pioneering the department’s extension with scholars of literature from around the world.

“He was really important in the reinvention of the English department as it existed then and exists today,” Starn said. “He completed its transition from being a local department with its roots in a fairly parochial vision of what literature was like.”

The author of books on the Faerie Queene and pastoral poetry, Alpers was a founding editor of the journal Representations, a multidisciplinary journal first published in 1983 with articles from various social sciences.

“That was a highly, highly respected journal,” Gillis said, “and a highly respected group of people on that board.”

Alpers’ wife, Carol Christ, served as Berkeley executive vice chancellor and provost from 1994-2000 and was named president of Smith College in 2002. Alpers retired from Berkeley that year, assuming the title of Class of 1942 Professor of English Emeritus. At Smith, Alpers became a professor in residence and an unofficial ambassador for the college.

Alpers is survived by Christ as well as his sons, Benjamin and Nicholas Alpers; his stepchildren Jonathan and Elizabeth Sklute; four grandchildren; two brothers, David and Edward Alpers; and his former wife, Svetlana Alpers.

Contact Chris Yoder at cyoder@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @christiancyoder.

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