Elwin ’48, M.A. ’50 and Pauline Svenson ’48

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No other single person in the UCLA community has made a greater contribution to UCLA’s global visibility than Elwin “Sven” Svenson. He first distinguished himself in the adult education field, serving the Ford Foundation’s Fund for Adult Education in the 1950s. He returned to UCLA to become assistant director of UCLA Extension, also serving a key role in UCLA’s Peace Corps training program. He then took on key responsibility in the historic 13-year cooperative program between UCLA and the University of Chile. Named coordinator of overseas operations for UCLA in 1965, he rose to assistant chancellor in 1970 and vice chancellor of institutional relations in 1975, representing the chancellor in all relations with foreign institutions. In addition, he has the responsibility for a number of other campus units, including athletics, cultural and recreational affairs. Nationally, he has served on many committees of the American council on Education and the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. Devotion, loyalty and superhuman energy have characterize his many major contributions to UCLA’s preeminence in the international academic community.

Gracious, bright and extremely knowledgeable, Pauline “Polly” Svenson has given an enormous number of hours in service to UCLA. She was for some years very active in the Faculty Women’s Club, UCLA Affiliates and Medical Center Auxiliary. After volunteering in the UCLA Art Council’s Thieves’ Market, she began work in the council’s gift shop in Wight Art Gallery, serving for several years as a co-chair and, for the past two, as chair and manager. This activity has often occupied nearly all of her free time. Profits from the shop provide important support for many art council projects in the visual arts, including scholarships, faculty grants and acquisitions. Polly has been asked to serve as chair designate of a shop in the new Fowler Museum of Cultural History, soon to break ground; she assisted architects in the planning phase. As a couple, Polly and Sven are very supportive of UCLA activities, from the arts to athletics, and there are few times when one doesn’t see them at a play, concert or other campus event. They frequently entertain visiting dignitaries from abroad and attend many department events. Most recently, the Svensons went to Berlin to represent UCLA in celebrating that city’s 750th birthday.