Mary Cheadle, a longtime supporter of the University of California, Santa Barbara and wife of the late Chancellor Emeritus Vernon I. Cheadle, was honored Monday for her service to the university.
Chancellor Henry T. Yang and his wife, Dilling, hosted a special celebration attended by roughly 350 people at the University House. It was an opportunity for university officials, friends and colleagues to thank Cheadle for her lifelong interest in the university and to wish her well on her move to Kentucky to be closer to family.
Cheadle will leave Santa Barbara later this month. She plans, however, to return here several times a year.
"During UCSB's rapid rise to our current prominence, Mary has played a most vital role in our journey over the last 38 years," said Chancellor Henry Yang.
Mary is a most beloved member of our UCSB family.
She is a wonderful friend to our campus in every way, and to my wife, Dilling, and me as well.
We will miss her sorely, but we are glad that she will be with her son, Bill, and his lovely family."
For nearly 40 years, Cheadle has dedicated both time and money to UC Santa Barbara. Her close involvement began in 1962 when Vernon Cheadle was appointed chancellor. As the university's first family until 1977, the couple presided over the campus during a time of unprecedented development and social change. Their legacy to the campus includes The UCSB Foundation and the Chancellor's Council, which were created to encourage private support for a university ripe with promise.
The Cheadles continued their association with the university long after Vernon Cheadle retired from the chancellorship.
As volunteers and donors, their gifts have benefited almost every area of the university - from the arts to the sciences - and together with planned-giving commitments to graduate education reflect an extraordinary devotion to the campus.
Of her many campus activities, Mary Cheadle had a special affinity for the Davidson Library. She served on the Friends of the Library for many years and in 1994, created the Mary Low Cheadle Endowment for Special Collections to provide monies for acquisitions.
Her service also includes membership on the UCSB Foundation Board of Trustees (1996-2000), UCSB Alumna Association (Honorary Alumna 1990), University Art Museum Council, History Associates, Art Affiliates (Honorary Life Director) and Faculty Women's Club.
When her husband died in 1995, Mary Cheadle continued to direct gifts to the university in his memory, creating endowment funds that provide permanent support for the University Art Museum, the Museum of Systematics and Ecology, the vocal music program and student athletes in track.
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