McCulloch, Samuel C.

Historical Background

Samuel C. McCulloch, UCI history professor, was considered the unofficial historian of the campus for its first several decades. An Australian native, McCulloch earned his Ph.D. in History at UCLA and served as Dean of the College at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University) before joining UCI in 1963 as the first Dean of Humanities and a founding faculty member. Upon retirement, he became Professor of Emeritus of History.

Recognizing the importance of documenting the history of the campus, early in 1964 Professor McCulloch began collecting clippings, memos and conducting oral history interviews with key campus figures such as the first chancellor, Daniel Aldrich and his wife, Jean Aldrich, as well as other key figures such as UC president Clark Kerr and president of the Irvine Company, Ray Watson. Throughout his career at UCI, he had the support of the Administration to carry out his interviews. When he retired in 1988, he was named official historian of UCI. He continued his interviews and, in 1996, published Instant University, the first published comprehensive history of the campus.