The Richard D. Ford Peace Plaza will be dedicated in the Peace Garden at California State University, Fresno from 11:30 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, May 4, in memory of the late dean.

Dr. Ford, who died July 4, 1997 at age 62, was dean of the then-School of Health and Social Work (now Health and Human Services) for 22 years before returning to teaching the year prior to his death.

His widow, Mrs. Nancy Ford, and President John D. Welty will unveil a plaque honoring Ford in the garden, which holds monuments to Mohandas K. Gandhi, Cesar E. Chavez, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The plaza is located at the west end of the garden, just south of the recently installed King sculpture.

Welty said Ford was an outstanding leader and a mentor to many students and faculty whose service to the community fits the garden’s message.

“Dean Ford was a strong advocate for peace and for those who were underserved in our society,” Welty said. “It is very fitting that the peace garden plaza will carry his name as a reminder of the example he showed all of us and of his lifetime commitment to serving others.”

The president said Ford helped open the university’s doors to hundreds of underrepresented students and that “he was a driving force in building bridges between the university and the regional community.”

Other speakers scheduled for the dedication, which will feature the President’s Quintet, include the Peace Garden’s founder, Dr. Sudarshan Kapoor, social work education professor and coordinator of the Peace and Conflict Studies; Dr. Benjamin Cuellar, current health and human services dean; and Dr. Felton Burns, social work education professor.

After the dedication, the plaza will undergo re-construction with completion by 2001, said Dr. Benjamin Quillian, vice president of administration. Quillian said infrastructure repairs of the garden will begin later in the year and will take about a year before the university begins construction of the plaza that was designed by campus landscape architect, Bob Boro, who will also attend the May 4 dedication ceremony.

For more information, call (559) 278-2083.