Yolo-Alameda County CA Obituary Project Obituaries.....HAGAN , Robert  July 3 2002
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Peggy B. Perazzo pbperazzo@comcast.net August 12, 2004, 11:44 pm

"The Davis Enterprise," Wednesday, July 17, 2002
Robert Hagan

Robert Hagan, who retired as a UC Davis professor of water science in 1987 after
being associated with the university for 50 years, died on July 3, 2002,
following complications from a stroke suffered in April. He was 85 years old.

Hagan believed that a major role of the university is to develop and communicate
reliable scientific data to decision-makers at all levels. Through his
leadership and achievements in numerous roles, he lived this commitment to
facilitate communication between water experts and public citizens, planners and
policy makers.

In 1980, Hagan received UCD's Magnar Ronning Award for teaching excellence. "I
try to encourage my students to think of how they would solve the related
problems if they were in a position of authority," he said. "I constantly
emphasize applications to problems of the real world."

These interests led Hagan to be a founder of the Water Education Foundation, a
Sacramento-based, nonpartisan public-education organization, established in 1977.

Locally, Hagan served the Davis and Yolo County communities in many ways. He was
a founder of International House, to welcome and support foreign students and
scholars, and he was instrumental in getting a seniors living facility (the
University Retirement Center) built in Davis. He also served 16 years as a
director on the board of the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation
District, his term ending in December 2001.

Hagan was also very proud of his long association with Rotary International. On
international trips, he often visited meetings of the local Rotary clubs. In
1992, Hagan was named with his late wife, Rachel Knapp Hagan, to receive the
city of Davis' Covell Award as Citizens of the Year, one of many honors received
in recognition of his lifetime of public service.

Robert Mower Hagan was born in Oakland on Dec. 6, 1916, to Hugh Lawrence Hagan,
the district attorney for the city of Oakland, and Geneva Mower Hagan, a teacher
and headmistress at the Anna Head School in Oakland. He grew up in Oakland where
he was an Eagle Scout and active in the youth group of Oakland's First
Presbyterian Church, where he met Rachel Alice Knapp.

Bob and Rachel married in 1939 and remained together until Rachel's death in
1996. The friendships that Bob and Rae forged in their church youth group during
the early years of the Great Depression proved unusually durable, many lasting a
lifetime.

Following his graduation from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in chemistry,
Hagan came to UC Davis in 1937, at the age of 21, to work as an associate in the
botany department's agricultural station. In 1939, he transferred to work in UC
Berkeley's soils department. There he received his master's degree in soil
physics in 1942.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hagan served as a commissioned officer in
the U.S. Army as an ROTC instructor teaching military science and tactics to
cadets at Berkeley.

In 1946, Hagan returned with his family to Davis to continue his work at UC
Davis. There he earned his doctorate in soils and plant physiology and joined
the UC Davis faculty in 1948.

As Hagan's career unfolded as a researcher, mentor for graduate students and
department chair for irrigation, his reputation grew as expert in the
relationships between plants, water and soil. He worked with water scientists,
officials, and other policy makers in the former Soviet Union, India, Asia,
Latin American and the Middle East.

Throughout his career, Hagan worked to find common ground between agricultural
water users and environmental groups in disputes over water development and
resource management. He served on science advisory committees to the U.S.
president, California governor, World Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford
Foundation and many other institutions.

Hagan is survived by his companion, Gennie Riddle; two sons, Larry Hagan of
Reston, Va., and Jim Hagan of Cupertino; their wives, Darlene and Linda; four
grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 27, at Davis
Community Church, 412 C St. The family suggests memorial contributions be made
to International House, 10 College Park, Davis, CA 95616, or the Water Education
Board (www.water-ed.org).


Additional Comments:
Submitted with the permission of the "The Davis Enterprise," 315 G Street,
Davis, CA 95616.

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