5 Will Receive UC Irvine Medals

Five people, including former UC Irvine Chancellor Jack Peltason and his wife, Suzanne, are to be awarded the university’s highest honor, the UCI Medal, campus officials announced Monday.

Three others who will receive the award are Louise Turner Arnold of Laguna Beach, a philanthropist and member of two UCI boards of directors; Martha Newkirk of Laguna Beach, a donor and former president of the UCI Alumni Assn., and faculty member Robert Cohen, founding chairman of UCI’s drama department.

The awards will be presented Oct. 21 at the campus’ Aldrich Park, during the inauguration of new Chancellor Laurel Wilkening. In a statement Monday, Wilkening praised the UCI Medal recipients.

“These individuals represent the spirit of dedication and service to the university, both in their specific areas of interest and to the campus as a whole,” she said. “They deserve our highest honor and recognition.”

Jack Peltason is currently the president of the nine-campus University of California system. He served as academic vice chancellor at UCI from 1964-67 and chancellor from 1985-92.

Suzanne Peltason organized publication of a document that commemorated UCI’s first 25 years. She also was a member of many campus support groups during her years at UCI.

Arnold has served on the UCI College of Medicine Board of Trustees and the UCI Foundation Board of Directors, as well as several other organizations supporting UCI activities. She recently gave UCI a $1.6-million gift to endow a chair in the neurosciences.

Newkirk has served as a UC regent as well as president of the UCI Alumni Assn. In 1989, she gave $100,000 to the alumni association’s scholarship endowment campaign.

Cohen is a professor of drama in UCI’s School of Fine Arts. “Under his direction, the (drama) department has dispatched dozens of graduates to Broadway, Hollywood and theater companies nationwide,” said a university spokeswoman.