Alumni Donor Spotlight

We are thrilled to announce that alumnus Larry Icerman, MS’68, PhD ’76 recently made a legacy gift to the UC San Diego Intramural Sports program, making it the very first legacy gift ever in the program’s history. Dr. Icerman shares “I don’t think I would have been successful at UC San Diego if there weren’t intramurals.” Read our Q&A with Dr. Iceman below to learn more about how Intramural Sports impacted his student experience and what inspired him to give back.

Name: Larry Icerman, MS ’68, PhD ’76
Major: Master’s in Applied Mechanics and PhD in Engineering Sciences
Career: Owner, Icerman & Associates, an advanced-technology consultancy
Hometown: Muncie, Indiana
Currently lives: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Fun Facts:

• I am an avid vintage car collector and have a museum quality collection of 80 and 90-year-old cars.
• I co-authored the first energy-related textbook in 1974 with Dr. S. S. Penner, the founding chair of the University’s first engineering department, Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering Sciences (AMES).
• I was defending my PhD thesis in the Urey Room in Urey Hall and who shows up but Dr. Harold Urey, a 1934 Nobel laureate in Chemistry. He was not one of my PhD committee members so this was completely unexpected. Dr. Urey shared that he thought my body of work was deserving of a PhD and the rest is history.

How did participating in Intramural Sports impact your time at UC San Diego?

I was at UC San Diego for almost nine years and I spent an enormous amount of time participating in the Intramural Sports program. As a Master’s and PhD student, intramural sports were a major outlet for me away from the rigor of academic work.

The early academic environment in AMES was pretty competitive so it was a difficult to make friends because you were competing with other students. Intramurals provided another avenue, it offered an opportunity to get to know and meet a lot of different people from all over the campus. Many of the best friends I ever had at UC San Diego came from intramurals.

What inspired you to include intramural sports in your bequest?

I don’t think I would have enjoyed my time at UC San Diego as much as I did if there weren’t intramurals. Many of the best memories that I have from my time at UC San Diego are from intramural sports.

My hope is that my bequest will help make sure the program will have the support it needs in the future and make it easier for students to participate if they are interested in doing so.

What would you tell a student thinking about getting involved in an intramural sport?   

I would encourage anybody to participate in intramural sports – it is a wonderful outlet and a great way to make friends and meet other people outside of your particular academic area. And you don’t have to necessarily be good at the sport. In intramurals, there is no reason to feel intimidated about your skill level.

Do you have a favorite memory or story from your time participating in the intramural sports program? 

By the early 70s, volleyball had become a very big sport in California and the Intramural Directors at UC campuses decided to host a UC wide intramural co-ed volleyball tournament. I put together a six-person intramural volleyball team and we went to UC Davis to compete in the tournament. No one was even expecting UC San Diego to be able to organize a team, but we showed up and ended up beating all of the teams from the other campuses to win the championship.

Do you have any advice to current students?

If you see an opportunity, go for it. Do it when you’re young, because when you get older, you’re going to be more timid. Don’t be afraid of failure.

To learn more about planned giving or other ways to support Recreation, please contact Tiffany Ayres, Associate Director of Development for Recreation, at tayres@ucsd.edu or (858) 246-5217.