UCI Hall Named After Scholar Krieger

UC Irvine on Tuesday renamed its humanities building in honor of professor Murray Krieger, a pioneer and international expert in the study of literary theory. He also is founding director of the school’s Humanities Research Institute.

Built in 1965, the Humanities Office Building was renamed Murray Krieger Hall during a ceremony that praised Krieger for bringing international recognition to UCI as a center for the study of literary criticism and theory.

“Murray is an invaluable resource, not only for this university, but for humanities programs throughout the nation,” UCI Chancellor Ralph J. Cicerone said.

Less than a year after arriving at UCI in 1966, Krieger founded the Program in Critical Theory, which later grew into the Critical Theory Institute. He also launched the International Consortium for Humanities Centers and Institutes, and brought to UCI the Wellek Library, a collection of literary criticism by Rene Wellek, as well as UCI’s annual Wellek Library Lecture series.

Krieger and his wife, Joan, began a fellowship of $80,000 in 1994 to fund annual awards to UCI graduate students who specialize in literary theory. The Laguna Beach resident has said he hoped his work would help put UCI in competition with the “great East Coast universities.”

“When we started, literary criticism and theory were not accepted as major academic areas of study, and there were no programs in them,” Krieger said. “I have focused on promoting this program . . . giving it distinction and making my own scholarly contribution to it.”

Krieger holds the rank of university professor, the highest professorial rank within the University of California’s 10-campus system. Of 19 such professors in the state, Krieger is the only one from UCI.