Campus Cuts Ribbon on New Retirement Resource Center

By Ioana Patringenaru | Oct. 1, 2007

Chancellor Fox cuts the ribbon of the new UCSD Retirement Resource Center.

Applause rose as Chancellor Marye Anne Fox cut a ribbon to dedicate the new UCSD Retirement Resource Center Wednesday in the heart of campus, near the Price Center. The facility is now home to both the UCSD Retirement Association, which serves retired staff members, and the UCSD Emeriti Association, which serves retired faculty.

“Our retirees are important to us,” Fox said. “All of you have a knowledge and experience of the institution, which I think is invaluable.”

The UCSD Retirement Association is the largest in the University of California system, with more than 950 members, the chancellor pointed out. The emeriti association also is going strong with about 350 members, she added. 

The new resource center gives both associations a place to interact. This will create an atmosphere of collaboration and innovation, Fox said. The facility comes with more space, more staff and a slightly bigger budget.

The center’s opening is a milestone in the relationship between the university and emeriti and retirees, said Assistant Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Tom Leet. “We hope the new center will go a long way toward enhancing the quality of retirees’ life and campus life,” he added. For example, the Emeriti Association is currently working on a mentoring program, which pairs retired faculty with undergraduate students and junior faculty.

Fox applauds a speaker.

Many turned out for the ceremony.

The UCSD Retirement Resource Center was one year in the making. It took Chancellor Fox a mere 12 days to express her support for the project, said Jack Fisher, the former president of the UCSD Emeriti Association. Chancellor Fox, Vice Chancellor Steven Relyea and Associate Vice Chancellor David Miller all agreed to provide the additional support necessary to make it a reality, said Bob Oakes, the former president of the UCSD Retirement Association.  

UCSD’s first retirement organization was chartered in October 1984 as the UCSD Retirement Club, then became the UCSD Retirement Association 1988. The group first met in a Quonset hut on campus. “We’ve come a long way,” Oakes said at Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.