The Fay Fellowship

About the Fay Fellowship

Dr. John C. Fay has been a generous supporter of UCR for over 40 years. In 2020, after inheriting a portion of his parents’ estate, John felt inspired to create two endowments that account for two of his interests and passions: Athletics and Mathematics.  To celebrate his parents and the Fay family’s ties to higher education at the University of California, John established the Dr. John C. Fay Graduate Fellowship in Mathematics Endowed Fund.  This fund will finance an award to support the studies of a doctoral student in Mathematics at UCR whose research interests align with the concurrent Victor L. Shapiro Distinguished Lecture.

The Fay Fellow

The recipient of the award associated with the endowed fund will be referred to as The Fay Fellow.  Leading up to the concurrent Victor L. Shapiro Distinguished Lecture, the graduate student who is selected to be the Fay Fellow will create and deliver preliminary presentations on background material to support the learning and participation of graduate students and faculty who attend the Victor L. Shapiro Distinguished Lecture. The preliminary presentations will be known as The Big C Seminar in Mathematics in recognition of John’s father’s connection to The Big C fight song. The Mathematics Department will run the seminar and it is open to all members of the UCR community along with the general public.

The Fay Family and the University of California

Dr. William A. Merrill

(1860 - 1930)

John's great-grandfather was a Professor in the UC Berkeley Classics Department who devoted his academic life to the study of the Epicurian poet and philosopher Lucretius.  He was the first member of the Berkeley Classics Department to publish a major work of scholarship.  Later in life, he devoted himself to the Silvae of Statius, a book of occasional poetry composed by Greco-Roman poet Statius Publius Papinius Statius (c. 45 – c. 96 CE).  Dr. Merrill was involved in the faculty politics of the young Berkeley campus and edited the Regents' Manual.

Dr. Percival B. Fay

(1890 -1971) 

John's grandfather was awarded his Ph.D. in Romance philology from John Hopkins University 1912.  In 1914, he joined the faculty of UC Berkeley and began his career as a Professor of French at UC Berkeley.  He specialized in Old French language and literature, but had broad knowlege of the Romance field, studied Greek and Sanskrit, and also specialized in seventeenth-century French literature.  His colleagues eulogized him as an "exemplary scholar, a teacher who brought a discipline to his students with respect and solicitude, and a gentle man who never said and never did anything that was unkind or untrue." 

During John's year at USF, he would take his children to play at Indian Rock, a place filled with memory for the Fay family:  In his retirement years, John's grandfather took John and his brothers to that same place, and sat on a bench to read a scholarly article while the children played.

The Rev. William Merrill Fay,  BA, M Div

(1923 - 2011) 

John's Father enrolled in the UC as a French major, but his schooling was interrupted by the outbreak of WWII when he enlisted in the US Army to serve our country.  He was commissioned as a 2nd Lt., served in Manila Bay of the Philippines, and was later promoted to a 1st  Lt., leading an ordnance unit.

On returning from his military service, Bill completed his studies at UC Berkeley where he played trombone with the marching band.  He was the first “Straw Hat” of the Straw Hat Pep Band, and was Student Manager of the Cal Band in both his junior and senior years.  He graduated with the class of 1948. As an alumnus, he was Class Secretary for '48 with the Alumni Association and helped to lead a ‘million dollar fundraiser’ for the 50th Anniversary class gift to the University.  

Following his undergraduate degree, Bill answered a call to his lifetime vocation as an Episcopal priest and attended and graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary (class of 1951). Bill was first assigned to St. Stephen’s mission in Orinda as deacon-in-charge.  His second assignment was as curate at St. Paul’s, Oakland.  In 1954, Bill and Margie accepted a call to serve in the Missionary Diocese of South Dakota.  In 1971, after 17 years among the Lakota people (including time as Priest-in-charge for the Standing Rock Reservation and Superintending Presbyter for 28 congregations on the Pine Ridge Reservation), Fr. Bill answered a call to return to California in the San Joaquin Valley.  Bill and Margie served for 14 years in Reedley.  In 1988, Bill and Margie moved to serve in Woodlake, CA. 

 In 1992, after 37+ years in the active ministry, Bill and Margie retired to his childhood home in Berkeley.  Bill was known throughout his life for his engaging personality, his quick wit and his amazing memory for names, dates and events taking place up to 80 or more years previous.