In Memory of Ralph K. Nair

Ralph K. Nair
Professor Emeritus, Education
University of California Santa Barbara

With great sadness I am writing these notes to pay tribute to our colleague Ralph Nair who passed away on June 9, 2006 at age 92. He is leaving behind a family that embraces three generations to whom we offer our condolences; he will also be remembered and missed by legions of friends and colleagues.

​Ralph Nair hailed from Newton, Kansas where he was born in 1913. He and his wife came to Santa Barbara in 1941 where Ralph accepted an appointment at the then Riviera campus -- the original location of what became UCSB. During his long career that that spanned thirty-seven years he served the University of California in many capacities, and after retirement Ralph worked tirelessly for the cause of the Santa Barbara and UC emeriti associations, and it is in this role that I worked with Ralph for the past dozen years. And it is on these issues that Ralph displayed dedication and a vision of what defining the role and place of emeriti in the body of the University of California.

Ralph was the historian and institutional memory of the UC emeriti associations, meticulously recording the history of the various campus Emeriti Associations. We, the emeriti throughout the University of California, will miss him.
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David A. Sprecher, UCSB, June 2006