UC San Diego Alumni Return to Campus for Inaugural Alumni Weekend

Graduates and future “Tritons” enjoy a weekend of campus events and programs

Malinda Danziger | June 15, 2009

From left to right: The honorees of the 31st Annual Awards for Excellence with Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. From left to right: Professor Jeff Rabin, Donald Murphy ’75m, Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, Gary Curtis ’69, Abbie Celniker ’80 and Wayne Kennedy.

UC San Diego graduates from all years came back to campus to participate in the university’s inaugural Alumni Weekend, enjoying a variety of activities from a Birch Aquarium event teeming with alumni and their children, to the 31st Annual Alumni Awards for Excellence gala, to a brunch-time concert in one of the world’s finest concert venues – the Conrad Prebys Music Center. This exciting new program, held June 4-7, provided alumni the opportunity to reconnect with friends and faculty, celebrate their UC San Diego experience and revisit campus through the eyes of current students.

Alumni Weekend 2009 attracted 1,300 attendees, including alumni, as well as their families and friends. For some, this was the first university event they attended since graduation. “I felt a sense of pride being among fellow graduates, many that I recognized from daily business interactions,” says Gary Bosse ’89. “Next time I run into them downtown, I’ll be able to introduce myself with an immediate common bond.”

“It has been a transformative year for the nation and our university,” adds Armin Afsahi, ’90, executive director, UCSD Alumni Association. “We are heartened to see the bond between the university and its alumni strengthened as never before with many alumni and friends returning to campus this year.”

Garrett Downing and Annamarie Bezzerides ’91, with daughters Marina and Iliana enjoy the Alumni Blast at the Birch.

The inaugural Alumni Weekend began Thursday night, June 4, with over 200 alumni, faculty and friends enjoying mariachi music and margaritas at the Alumni and Faculty Happy Hour in the courtyard of the Ida and Cecil Green Faculty Club.

On Friday, June 5, more than 300 alumni, families and friends enjoyed exclusive after-hours access to the Birch Aquarium, enjoying an exhilarating mix of steel drum music, festive island-themed fare and dramatic views of the Pacific Ocean. Young “Tritons-in-training” enjoyed the tide pools and the opportunity to touch starfish and sea cucumbers.

Destination UCSD on Saturday, June 6, brought Tritons of all ages back to campus for a day of recreation and fun. It started with campus walking tours highlighting the Stuart Collection, key sustainability sites and state-of-the-art recreational facilities, and then continued with lunch at campus dining halls. The legendary Ernie Mort, former campus chaplain and dean emeritus of Revelle College, returned to lead an alumni tour of campus and share tales from UCSD’s first college.

A young “Triton-in-training” enjoy the tide pools at the Birch Aquarium.

The walking tour was followed by college and department reunions. Destination UCSD brought together alumni from several academic divisions, colleges and campus groups with their own smaller reunions, including Muir College, Marshall College, Jacobs School of Engineering, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, Associated Student Presidents and Commissioners of Programming, Greek alumni, Student Foundation alumni and Guardian/Triton Times alumni.

That evening, 350 alumni and friends gathered for the 31st Annual Awards for Excellence honoring outstanding alumni and faculty for their leadership, advocacy, philanthropy and service to UC San Diego. Chancellor Marye Anne Fox celebrated the achievements of the honorees and used the opportunity to ask the strong network of alumni to advocate on behalf of the UC system in the face of the dramatic cuts to the higher education budgets.

This year’s Alumni Awards for Excellence honorees included:

• Donald W. Murphy, ’75, Outstanding Alumnus of the Year, chief executive officer for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and former deputy director of the National Park Service;
• Abbie Celniker, ’80, Professional Achievement, a pioneer in late-stage discovery and development of protein therapeutics and building biologics-focused businesses;
• Jeffrey Rabin, Ph.D., Distinguished Teaching, UC San Diego professor of mathematics and former co-director of the Algebraic Thinking Institute;
• Gary Curtis, ’69, Distinguished Service, entrepreneur and biomedical pioneer, scholarship supporter and Trustee of the UC San Diego Foundation; and
• Wayne Kennedy, Honorary Alumnus, senior vice president emeritus from the University of California and former vice chancellor, UC San Diego.

Sheldon Engelhorn, ’72, president of the UCSD Alumni Association Board of Directors, and his wife, Susan.

The Awards for Excellence program raised $55,000 for the Alumni Association’s endowed scholarship program. Since 1994, generous donations and annual sponsorship of the Awards for Excellence have increased the alumni scholarship endowment to $2 million, ensuring continued funding for years to come.

The weekend of activities concluded with an al fresco brunch on Sunday, June 7, followed by a performance by pianist Katalin Lukács, ’10 and vocalist Stephanie Aston, ’11, in the new Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, an extraordinary new campus music venue. 

“Alumni who returned to campus for Alumni Weekend gained a renewed sense of community and pride in this incredible institution,” says Afsahi. “We encourage all alumni to come back to campus very soon.”

It’s time for alumni to mark their calendars now for the UCSD Alumni Association trifecta of annual reunions coming up: Homecoming, October 16-18, Young Alumni Reunion in February 2010 and Alumni Weekend, June 2010. Additional information is available at www.alumni.ucsd.edu.