{"id":10903,"date":"2016-05-25T08:50:43","date_gmt":"2016-05-25T15:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/?p=10903"},"modified":"2019-07-30T14:51:27","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T21:51:27","slug":"romingers-to-receive-uc-davis-highest-individual-honor-from-the-davis-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2016\/05\/25\/romingers-to-receive-uc-davis-highest-individual-honor-from-the-davis-enterprise\/","title":{"rendered":"Romingers to receive UC Davis’ highest individual honor – from the Davis Enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Richard<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

UC Davis alumni Richard and Evelyne Rominger, who for decades have played prominent roles in the community and in statewide and national agriculture, have been selected to receive the UC Davis Medal, the highest honor the university presents to an individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter will present the medals to the Romingers during a June 9 gala dinner at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRich and Evelyne Rominger have given generously to UC Davis of their time, talents and resources,\u201d Hexter said. \u201cTheir loyalty and passion for seeing students flourish and their alma mater grow and prosper is an inspiration for all of us in the Aggie family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Romingers, who live in Winters, will speak June 10 during the 9 a.m. commencement ceremony of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First presented in 2002, the medal has previously been awarded to 15 people, recognizing the very highest levels of distinction, personal achievement and contributions to the ideals of higher education on which UCD is founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A family affair<\/strong>
Few families are as deeply rooted in UCD and California agriculture as Richard and Evelyne Rominger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They proudly note that in 1909, both of their fathers attended the first Picnic Day, UCD\u2019s trademark spring open house. Rich, as he is known to most people, says his dad, Albert Rominger, pedaled a bicycle several miles through the countryside to be part of the inaugural event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Evelyne\u2019s father, John O. Rowe, graduated from UCD in 1913, and her uncle, John Rogers, was the first UCD farm superintendent, who in 1906 unlocked the gate to the newly acquired 780-acre farm that would become the Davis campus. She and her three brothers all attended UCD.<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Cal Aggie Marching Band \u2014 now often referred to as the \u201cBand-uh!\u201d \u2014 brought the Rowe and Rominger families together in 1947. Evelyne was the majorette for the then all-male band, and Rich was a front-row trombone player.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the shyest guy in the band; and I thought he was so handsome,\u201d Evelyne said.<\/p>\n

Rich attended his freshman year at Sacramento Junior College because UCD was closed during World War II and then served 14 months in the U.S. Navy before the war ended. He played third base on the Aggie baseball team and became a member of Alpha Zeta, the national agricultural honor society.<\/p>\n

He graduated summa cum laude in 1949 from UCD, majoring in agronomy and earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in plant sciences, and then returned to help run the family farm near Winters.<\/p>\n

Evelyne, intent on obtaining a \u201cbroad general education,\u201d served as editor of the Cal Aggie newspaper during the 1949-50 school year. When Knowles Ryerson, dean of the College of Agriculture, returned to UCD after the war, he wanted the campus to be more involved internationally and sent Evelyne and other students to the World Affairs Council conference at Asilomar.<\/p>\n

She later became vice president of the student World Affairs Council and a member of Cal Club, established by UC President Robert Gordon Sproul to include student leaders from all UC campuses.<\/p>\n

She transferred to UC Berkeley for her senior year so that in 1951 she could graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in English, history and journalism. At the time, UCD offered only a bachelor of science degree in that area.<\/p>\n

Government service<\/strong>
Rich and Evelyne married in 1951 and had three sons, Richard, Charlie and Bruce, and one daughter, Ruth. The boys all graduated from UCD; Ruth began at UCD but graduated from UC San Diego. The Romingers also have four granddaughters and three grandsons.<\/p>\n

In 1977, recognizing Rich\u2019s agricultural leadership at the regional and state level, Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to head the California Department of Food and Agriculture. He served as the agency\u2019s director until 1982.<\/p>\n

In 1993, Rich was appointed by President Bill Clinton to become deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In that post, among many other duties, he oversaw establishment of national standards for organic farming.<\/p>\n

After an eight-year stint in Washington, D.C., he and Evelyne returned to Winters, where their sons and nephews were running the 6,000-acre family farm along with Rich\u2019s brother, Don Rominger, who also had attended UCD.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

(Watch CDFA’s video about the Rominger family, from the Growing California<\/a> video series)<\/p>\n\n\n\n