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Richard C. Atkinson, president of the University of California system has announced the creation of a lecture series to honor Clark Kerr, who served as UC president from 1958 to 1967. 

The Kerr Lecture participants will lecture on the role of higher education in society at one or more of the 10 UC campuses. They will also be expected to submit manuscripts on their lectures for publication. 

Atkinson made the announcement Monday. 

Lecture recipients will be chosen every two years, beginning on the 2001-2002 academic year, and will have the opportunity to conduct a semester's worth of research at the UC Berkeley Center for Studies of Higher Education. 

The lectures will be funded by the UC Office of the President at first, but officials hope to find a permanent endowment to keep them going. Atkinson said the lecture series is meant to honor Kerr, who is 90 years old and serves as the university system's president emeritus. 

“Clark Kerr is the nation's most distinguished statesman of higher education, renowned internationally not only as a scholar and academic leader, but as an insightful researcher and writer on the role of higher education in society,” Atkinson said.