Robert Gurval retired from active teaching in 2019, intending to teach in China and travel more.
When the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into those plans, Gurval focused his attention closer to home: He immersed himself in learning and teaching about the history and architecture of UCLA, offering walking tours and leading a Fiat Lux seminar on the subjects.
Now, Gurval, a professor emeritus of classics, has been honored by UCLA with the 2025 Carole E. Goldberg Emeriti Service Award and a $1,000 prize.
Michael Levine, vice chancellor for academic affairs and personnel and the chair of the award selection committee, lauded Gurval’s efforts to illuminate the campus’s origins and evolution for students, alumni and others.
“Through various mechanisms — Fiat Lux courses, lectures, campus tours for the Division of Humanities Dean’s Circle, the Chancellor’s Society, and during UCLA’s Centennial Celebration, and a feature article, ‘Stories in Stone,’ for the UCLA College of Letters and Science Magazine — Professor Gurval has brought the history of UCLA to life and introduced many to a fascinating and important story,” Levine said in an email announcing the honor.
Gurval, who joined UCLA in 1988 as a lecturer before earning a tenure-track faculty position in 1989, will teach the Fiat Lux seminar again in the fall. He said he hopes to continue leading that course and giving tours well into the future.
“I feel incredibly fortunate to have made my academic career at UCLA,” Gurval said. “Like most faculty, I never felt that retirement was an end to my association with UCLA. Instead, it simply gave me more time to do what I love most — researching and teaching the history and architecture of the university and, above all, leading walking tours of the Westwood campus.”
