Les Koepplin

Biography

Alumni Les Koepplin passed away February 3, 2021 at the age of 76. The first in his family to attend college, Les completed his Ph.D. in History in 1971 at UCLA, where he held the Sen. William Andrews Clark Graduate fellowship. His dissertation was A Relationship of Reform: Immigrants and Progressives in the Far West. Les spent his career advocating for higher education.

Les began his career working in the UCLA Chancellor’s office, focused on international studies and on university relations with business, foundations, and the federal government. He co-authored the paper “International Business and International Studies” for the American Council on Education Agenda for Business and Higher Education and the paper “International Business, Foreign Language and International Studies” for the President’s Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies. The latter paper was instrumental in the establishment of the Center for International Business Education, Research and Service program in the U.S. Department of Education.

Les spent 25 years in Washington, D.C. employed by the presidents of Rutgers University. Representing the university system, he worked closely with several administrations, Congress and higher education associations to maximize funding for federal student aid and research. Les took the national lead in the successful passage of the R&D tax credit, the establishment of new university-DOD relations, and the revision of the student aid loan program. He directed the Public University project on the Future of State Universities which the Ford and Exxon Foundations supported. The final report was published as The Future of State Universities: Issues in Teaching, Research and Public Service.

The Association of American Universities (the premiere organization of America’s graduate education and research universities) recognized Les’s expertise with an invitation to spend a year as visiting Senior Staff. After retiring from administration duties, Les returned to the classroom at Rutgers and UCLA where he taught History Capstone Seminars: “Continuing Issues in U.S. Immigration and Its Regulation” and “U.S. Science and Technology Policy Since 1945.” Most recently, Les shared his knowledge of policy at student career events and vetted the applications for the inaugural class of the Luskin Center for History and Policy Fellows.

Strong believers in the importance of public education and in giving back, Les and his wife Linda generously endowed a UCLA graduate history fellowship in U.S. Immigrant History in 2017, as well as a collection endowment for the UCLA Library.