[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 46 (Thursday, April 23, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING DEAN E. MCHENRY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 23, 1998

  Mr. FARR OF California. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor Dean E. 
McHenry, a visionary who achieved his dreams for public higher 
education in California and, in so doing, empowered a legion of 
students to achieve their dreams.
  Dean McHenry's leadership in California institutions of high 
education can be traced from his position as student body president at 
University of California at Los Angeles. He attended the best schools, 
both public and private, that our fine state can offer, earning a 
master's degree from Stanford University and doctorate from University 
of California at Berkeley. A noted scholar in his field of political 
science, he authorized many books, was a Carnegie Fellow in New Zealand 
and Australia, and a Fullbright lecturer at the University of Western 
Australia.
  Dean McHenry held a number of administrative posts at the University 
of California at Los Angeles. But his life took a significant turn when 
his former roommate, Clark Kerr, who had just been appointed to the 
presidency of the University of California system, tapped into his 
abilities to conceptualize an innovative system of higher education, 
asking him to serve as the University representative on the team 
developing California's Master Plan for Higher Education. It was then 
that Dean McHenry designed a college system accessible to all high 
school graduates, with standards for the University, the state college 
system, and community colleges that allowed students to advance from 
one institution to another.
  In 1961, Dean McHenry was appointed founding chancellor of the 
University of California, Santa Cruz which would become the tangible 
expression of the philosophies he shared with President Clark Kerr. 
Together they envisioned a university at which major academic research 
was done in an intimate small-college environment, a constellation of 
colleges, each with a specialized academic focus, and attendant dining 
halls, classrooms and meeting facilities. During the four planning 
years, eminent scholars were recruited to the faculty. The University 
of California, Santa Cruz opened to students in 1965. Upon opening not 
all of the construction had been completed, so the students were housed 
in mobile home trailers. They were pioneers with a visionary leader.
  In the McHenry years, the University of California, Santa Cruz 
flourished. After his retirement in 1974, Dean McHenry monitored 
additions such as the arboretum and Long Marine Laboratory, supporting 
the University as a member of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation.
  In his retirement, the nurturing aspect of his nature turned to 
family, friends and vinticulture, and those too were very good years. 
He is survived by his loving wife and helpmate, Jane, and four 
children, Sally MacKenzie, Dean McHenry Jr., Nancy Fletcher, and Henry 
McHenry, as well as nine grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, the far-sighted concepts of Dean McHenry have set the 
course for public education in California, with the University system 
as its crown jewel. His spirit imbues the campuses of the University of 
California with fairness and lofty standards. The University's students 
carry with them, throughout life, a bit of Dean McHenry's enthusiasm 
and passion for learning.

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