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A Closer Look
April 30, 2026 8:33 p.m.
Morton La Kretz, a UCLA alumnus and environmental philanthropist, stands at Crossroads of the World. La Kretz died on Jan. 31 at 100 years old. (Courtesy of Reed Hutchinson)
This post was updated April 30 at 11:28 pm.
Morton La Kretz, a UCLA alumnus and environmental philanthropist, died Jan. 31. He was 100.
La Kretz funded the 2018 renovation of the La Kretz Botany Building and the construction of La Kretz Hall – UCLA’s first building to receive LEED certification, which recognizes sustainable and cost-effective buildings – in 2005.
By Amanda Xi
Academics
March 9, 2026 8:28 p.m.Aimée Dorr, the former UC provost and dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, died Jan. 25. She was 83.
Dorr joined the UCLA faculty in 1981 as a professor in the education department who researched the impacts of electronic media on children.
By Zachery Chagoya
Campus
Feb. 10, 2026 11:45 p.m.Materials conservation scholar, engineering professor Ioanna Kakoulli dies at 57
Ioanna Kakoulli, a professor of materials science and engineering, died Jan. 1. She was 57.
Kakoulli was the first female professor hired by UCLA’s materials science and engineering department, according to an obituary posted by UCLA Global Antiquity.
By Alisha Hassanali
Academics
Feb. 1, 2026 9:25 p.m.Pulitzer Prize winner, former chair of UCLA History Daniel Walker Howe dies at 88
Daniel Walker Howe, the former chair of UCLA’s history department and a Pulitzer Prize winner, died Dec. 25. He was 88 years old.
Howe was a faculty member in UCLA’s history department from 1972 to 1993 and served as the department’s chair from 1983 to 1987.
By Zachary Turcios
A Closer Look
Oct. 30, 2025 11:46 p.m.Former UCLA Labor Center director, workers’ rights advocate Kent Wong dies at 69
Kent Wong, the former director of the UCLA Labor Center and an advocate for workers’ rights, died Oct. 8. He was 69 years old.
Wong was the director of the UCLA Labor Center from 1991 to 2023, during which he oversaw the 2021 development of its new MacArthur Park headquarters, said Toby Higbie, a professor of history and labor studies.
By Izzy Greig
Los Angeles
Aug. 27, 2025 8:06 p.m.UCLA alumnus, Catch One founder, HIV/AIDS activist Jewel Thais-Williams dies at 86
Jewel Thais-Williams, a UCLA alumnus, the founder of LGBTQ+ nightclub Jewel’s Catch One and an HIV/AIDS activist, died July 7. She was 86.
Thais-Williams opened Catch One on West Pico Boulevard in 1973 to serve as “a sacred space” for underserved communities of color, said Donald Kilhefner, who was a close friend of Thais-Williams for more than 40 years.
By Caitlin Brockenbrow
A Closer Look
May 15, 2025 9:51 p.m.Sandra Harding, pioneering feminism scholar and former UCLA professor, dies at 89
Sandra Harding, a former distinguished professor of education and gender studies, died March 5. She was 89.
Internationally recognized for developing “standpoint theory” – which frames science as shaped by cultural and social contexts rather than as purely objective – Harding’s work critiqued classic academic theories that often overlooked the impacts of race, gender and ethnicity on knowledge production and the practice of science.
By Vivian Stein
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