Irvine : Grant Enables UCI to Have Honors Program

A $195,000 Ford Foundation grant is enabling UC Irvine to launch an honors program for undergraduate students, beginning in the fall of 1988.

In addition to the Ford Foundation money, UC Irvine itself will contribute $390,000 to start the new interdisciplinary study program. UCI was one of only 12 universities in the nation, including Harvard and Princeton, that were successful in winning Ford Foundation grants for such a proposed educational program.

University officials said the new study plan initially will involve about 100 students and will be “the first interdisciplinary honors program established at UC Irvine.”

Meredith Lee, associate professor of German and dean of undergraduate studies, said, “The program not only will bring gifted students from all campus majors together for stronger undergraduate preparation, it will put them in close contact with faculty members through small discussion groups and individual research projects.

“We hope that this first-hand experience of the excitement of academic life will lead these students to seriously consider pursuing academic careers, thereby helping to ensure the future of outstanding faculty members in higher education.”