03.19.2001 - Nobel laureates, pomp, awards, birthday cake - UC Berkeley celebrates Charter Day on March 23

Nobel laureates, pomp, awards, birthday cake, award winners - UC Berkeley celebrates Charter Day
updated 23 March 2001

UC Berkeley announces two awards at 133rd Charter Day:
2000 Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award Recipient:
Zivorad I. Kovacevic, M.A. '60, is the recipient of the 2000 Haas International Award. The 32nd recipient of this award, Mr. Kovacevic exemplifies the qualities that characterize all of the individuals who have received this singular honor. His work has benefited cities and the environment in lasting ways. Mr. Kovacevic served as Yugoslavia's ambassador to the United States and mayor of Belgrade (1974 to 1982) and helped to protect the environment and promote improved relations among neighboring countries in the Mediterranean and Europe.

2000 Peter E. Haas Public Service Award Recipient:
Amy L. Lemley, M.P.P. '98, is the recipient of the 2000 Haas Public Service Award. She is the 2nd recipient of this award, which honors the work of individuals who have made a significant impact in public service at the grassroots level. Ms. Lemley helped establish the First Place Fund for Youth in 1998, a non-profit organization that helps foster youth in their transition from foster homes to independence and adulthood. Her work documented the void in the lives of foster youth who are ill equipped to deal with finances, housing, and similar responsibilities of adulthood.

See Charter Day web site for more details on the award winners and the Charter Day event.

Berkeley - The University of California, Berkeley's 133rd birthday and its Nobel Prize-winning tradition will be celebrated on campus this Friday, March 23, with academic regalia, public service and international awards and a noon birthday party.

Daniel McFadden, a UC Berkeley economics professor who last October won the Nobel Prize in economics, will give the keynote speech at a 10 a.m. ceremony at Zellerbach Auditorium. McFadden is the 17th UC Berkeley faculty member to win a Nobel.

At the ceremony, representatives from the faculty and staff, along with alumni, will process into the auditorium in full academic regalia. Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl will give opening remarks and welcome guests. A multimedia presentation about the campus's Nobel Prize winners will be followed by McFadden's speech.

In addition, the Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award will be presented to UC Berkeley alumnus Zivorad I. Kovacevic, formerly Yugoslavia's ambassador to the United States and mayor of Belgrade. Kovacevic earned his master's degree from UC Berkeley in 1960. He will be commended for his dedication to public resistance to the Milosevic regime, for helping to protect the environment, and for improving relations among neighboring countries in the Mediterranean and Europe.

This award is given each year to a UC Berkeley alumnus or alumna who is a native citizen and resident of another nation than the United States and who has a distinguished record of service to his or her country.

The 2000 Peter E. Haas Public Service Award will be given to Amy L. Lemley, who received her master's degree in public policy from UC Berkeley in 1998. Lemley will be recognized for setting up in 1998 the First Place Fund for Youth. The non-profit organization helps foster youth transition from foster care to independence and adulthood.

Her highly successful program provides micro-loans to cover start-up housing costs and includes counseling and training in practical financial skills. She also spearheaded the development of the Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance, a network of community resources for foster youth who recently have "aged out" of foster care.

This award recognizes an alumnus or alumna of UC Berkeley who, through his or her own efforts, made a significant public contribution within the United States. It focuses on community service, health care, environmental work and education.

The ceremony is scheduled to end at 11:30 a.m., and an official birthday party - a traditional part of Charter Day - will be celebrated in Dwinelle Plaza at noon. Members of the campus community will enjoy cupcakes, Cal Trivia games and the Cal Straw Hat Band.

For more information about Charter Day, call (510) 643-7799. The program is on the Internet at www.urel.berkeley.edu/charterday.