Blackwell Hall is officially dedicated to late statistics professor
Campus leaders gather to celebrate new building named in honor of the first black professor to win tenure, a preeminent statistician
September 12, 2018
Campus leaders gathered this week to dedicate UC Berkeley’s newest residence hall to David Blackwell, the first black professor to receive tenure at Berkeley and a preeminent statistician who died in 2010. Blackwell Hall opened to more than 750 students in August and features study centers, a gym and plenty of ping-pong and pool tables.
Chancellor Carol Christ told the crowd that it was a fitting tribute to Blackwell to have a undergraduate residence hall named in his honor.
“Professor Blackwell was an exemplar of what a Berkeley professor should be: A scholar of the highest caliber, yet one blessed with a love of teaching, a commitment to sharing his wisdom, and an eagerness to both challenge and lift up those around him,” she said. “It is my great hope that this new residence hall will meet much more than the basic — if important — need for student housing, but that it will also help generations of new Cal students develop into young learners who share Blackwell’s values, his commitment to academic rigor, and his love for Berkeley.”