UC Irvine News Brief: Science Library renamed for renowned professor Francisco J. Ayala
Chancellor Michael Drake, biological sciences chair Albert Bennett and 2010 UCI Medal recipient Hazem Chehabi laud this year’s winner of the Templeton Prize at Oct. 15 ceremony.
UC Irvine’s Science Library was formally renamed the Francisco J. Ayala Science Library on Friday, Oct. 15. Chancellor Michael Drake, biological sciences deanr Albert Bennett and 2010 UCI Medal recipient Hazem Chehabi lauded the Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences’ lifelong work as a biologist, his success at bridging the schism between science and religion, and his unswerving dedication to the University of California. Ayala, who this year received the esteemed Templeton Prize, donated the $1.5 million award to scholarships for UCI graduate students. Drake said such generosity allows the campus to continue growing in a competitive world. Ayala, accepting the honor, said: “A library represents more than anything else a university. It is where knowledge is stored and where knowledge is incubated for the future – and graduate students are the future. So I could think of no greater honor than this. There is no other place that would be more meaningful to me than a library, particularly this library.”