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April 21, 1997

Memorial service for Kenneth V. Thimann set for May 3 at Crown College

By Robert Irion

[Photo of Kenneth Thimann] Friends of the late Kenneth V. Thimann will celebrate his life and his contributions to UCSC at a memorial service on Saturday, May 3. The service, which is open to the public, will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Crown College Dining Hall. A reception, also open to the public, will follow immediately in the Crown College courtyard.

A noted botanist, Thimann died peacefully at his home in Haverford, PA, on January 15. He was 92. Family members held a private memorial service for him in Haverford on January 19.

Speakers at the May 3 service will recall Thimann's role in shaping UCSC's early history. Founding chancellor Dean McHenry recruited Thimann from Harvard University in 1965 as professor of biology and the first provost of Crown College. Upon his retirement as provost in 1972, campus officials renamed UCSC's first biology research facility--Thimann Laboratories--in his honor. Thimann remained active in research and university affairs until moving to Haverford in 1989.

Among his many lasting imprints on the campus, Thimann helped to nurture the UCSC Arboretum into an internationally known horticultural site. He also was an accomplished amateur pianist and founded the Crown Chamber Players with his wife, Ann Mary Bateman Thimann, who died in 1987.

Scientific colleagues will describe the remarkable impact of Thimann's research, which spanned a career of more than five decades. His pioneering work in plant physiology earned him the prestigious Balzan Prize in 1982, awarded yearly in areas not covered by the Nobel Prizes. He also was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and numerous international scientific societies.

Speakers will include Chancellor Emeritus Dean McHenry; Chancellor Greenwood; Leo Laporte, provost of Crown College; Ray Collett, director of the UCSC Arboretum; several professors from UCSC, Stanford University, and San Francisco State University; and members of the Thimann family. Musicians will perform a 1950 piano composition by Thimann, written to accompany the words of a favorite poem, "The Nightingale Near the House."

For more information about the service, call Sylvia Holmes at (408) 459-3181.


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