Leon Schwartz, 74; Executive Led UC Irvine Hospital Out of Debt

Leon Schwartz, vice chancellor emeritus of UC Irvine and a past executive director of UCI Medical Center in Orange, has died. He was 74.

Schwartz, a Newport Beach resident, died April 1 after a long battle with prostate cancer.

Schwartz, who became UCI’s vice chancellor of administrative and business services in 1979, was asked to step in as acting director of the debt-plagued UCI Medical Center in 1985.

Sixteen months later, after helping steer the teaching hospital out of the red, he was appointed director by the University of California regents. He held that position, while also resuming his duties as vice chancellor, until 1988.

Schwartz took pride in his role in creating University Hills, UCI’s faculty housing program. He was president of the Irvine Campus Housing Authority from 1990 to 1998 and chairman of the board from 1999 through 2000, when he gave up the position for health reasons.

Born in Baltimore, Schwartz graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1950. In 1960, he joined NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., where he rose to chief of program review and resource management.

He was deputy assistant director for program management at the National Science Foundation in 1971 and 1972, when he joined the National Institutes of Health as associate director for administration

He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Joan; sons Howard and Richard; and three grandchildren.

A memorial is being planned for later this month.