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Joan Irvine Smith

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Athalie Anita Irvine, known as Joan Irvine Smith (1 July 1933 – 19 December 2019), was an American philanthropist, arts patron, horse trainer and heiress to the Irvine family fortune from their California ranch.

Biography

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Joan Irvine Smith in 1937

Born as Athalie Anita Irvine, she was the only child of James Harvey Irvine, Jr. and Athalie Richardson. She chose the name "Joan" at 4 years old.[1] Her father died when she was 2 years old, and her grandfather, James Irvine II, died in 1947 and she inherited a minority share of the Irvine Company.[2] She lived in Beverly Hills with her mother and her second husband after she remarried in 1938.[3] Her mother married again in 1944 to Judge Thurmond Clarke.[4]

She studied at Westridge School, a private girls school in Pasadena, later dropping out from Marymount College and also attended UC Berkeley for one year.[2]

In 1952 she married Charles Swinden in Rancho San Joaquin, with the ceremony being officiated by her stepfather, Judge Thurmond Clarke.[5] They had a son together, James Irvine Swinden, born in 1953.[6] After their divorce she married three more times.

Joan Irvine Smith died on 19 December 2019.[7]

Irvine Company

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Irvine Smith had a complicated relationship with the Irvine Company and the Irvine Foundation, becoming the major shareholder but suing for more shares for herself and three cousins.[8]

In July 1962 she also sued the Irvine Company for $1,200,000 for alleged losses in a real estate transaction where a 146-acre parcel in Orange County was exchanged for agricultural land in Imperial County.[9] She held a press conference to announce the filing of this suit at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco.[10]

She pushed for using Irvine Co. lands for urban development.[11]

University of California, Irvine

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Joan Irvine Smith played an important role in the creation of the University of California, Irvine (UCI), both in site selection and the donation of 1,000 acres of land from Irvine Co. According to UCI's Chancellor Howard Gillman "without Joan Irvine Smith there likely would not be a University of California, Irvine".[12] Along with the President of the University of California, Dr Clark Kerr, she talked about the progress and the project in industrial conferences, talking about the effort as "directed imagination".[13]

She also helped establish the Reeve-Irvine Research Center at UC Irvine, a spinal cord injury research center named for actor Christopher Reeve, who was paralyzed after a riding accident.[14]

Philanthropy

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Joan Irvine Smith contributed to different institutions and causes, such as donating to the building fund of her former school, Westridge, with the new building named the "Joan Irvine Library-Study Hall".[15] Together with her mother she founded the "Joan Irvine Smith and Athalie R. Clarke Foundation" which, for example, gifted $1 million to UC Irvine's School of Law library.[16] One of the main focus of this foundation was conservation, with the establishment of the National Water Research Institute and its yearly Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize award for leaders in the water sector.[17]

Patronage of the arts and the Irvine Museum

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Along with her mother and son, James Irvine Swinden, she created the Irvine Museum in 1992, hiring Jean Stern as its first executive director.[18] In 2016 the museum collection of 1,200 California Impressionist paintings were gifted to UC Irvine, for the establishment of a university museum.[19]

Horse breeding

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Joan Irvine Smith learned to ride from a young age and became a recognized breeder, owning three ranches all called The Oaks, in Virginia, San Juan Capistrano, and Valley Center.[20][21] She bred Holsteiner jumper horses, aiming to create an American sport horse to compete with European ones. When her stallion, called South Pacific, died of a rare disease caused by parasite Halicephalobus deletrix, Irvine Smith claimed it had been purposely infected and hired a private investigator.[22]

Honors and recognition

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  • Mary Lowther Ranney Distinguished Alumna Award, Westridge School (2001).[23]

References

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  1. ^ Oliver, H. Pike; Stockstill, C. Michael (2022). Transforming the Irvine Ranch: Joan Irvine, William Pereira, Ray Watson, and the Big Plan. New York: Routledge. pp. xix. ISBN 9781032128016.
  2. ^ a b Goffard, Christopher (2019-12-21). "Joan Irvine Smith, daughter of O.C. land baron family who helped establish UC Irvine, dies at 86". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2021-05-10. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  3. ^ "Announcements are issued of quiet wedding". Santa Ana Register. 1938-04-30. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  4. ^ Fox, Christy (1944-09-12). "Clarke-Irvine nuptial vows read in Beverly". Los Angeles Times. p. 17. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  5. ^ Frances, Moffat (1952-10-28). "Historic ranch setting for surprise nuptials of Joan Irvine, Charles Swinden". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  6. ^ Mina, Val B. (1994-10-02). "The Orange County dynasty". Los Angeles Times. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  7. ^ Money, Luke; Marble, Steve (2019-12-20). "Joan Irvine Smith, philanthropist and major force behind the founding of UCI, dies at 86". Daily Pilot. Archived from the original on 2021-08-08. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  8. ^ White, Donald (1966-08-26). "Joan wants $127 million". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 62. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  9. ^ Mackey, William L. (1962-07-31). "Dazzling blonde to sue for million". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  10. ^ "Heiress sues her own firm". Oakland Tribune. 1962-07-31. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  11. ^ McNulty, Patrick (1961-02-22). "Huge California holding goes back into history". Santa Cruz Sentinel. p. 30. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  12. ^ Gillman, Howard (2019-12-20). "Joan Irvine Smith passes away". UCI News. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  13. ^ Geivet, Bob (1961-11-03). "Orange County gains seen as 'Almost unbelievable'". Independent. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  14. ^ "About the Reeve-Irvine Research Center". Reeve-Irvine Research Center. Archived from the original on 2021-08-16. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  15. ^ "Alumna donates library, study hall to Westridge". Pasadena Independent. 1962-07-05. p. 30. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  16. ^ "UC Irvine receives $1 million gift for its new law school's library". UCI News. 2007-05-01. Archived from the original on 2021-08-24. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  17. ^ "Clarke Prize". National Water Research Institute. Archived from the original on 2021-08-24. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  18. ^ Stern, Jean. "The Irvine Museum in perspective" (PDF). The Irvine Museum. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Joan Irvine Smith Donates Artworks Worth $17 Million to UC Irvine". Philanthropy News Digest. 10 November 2016. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  20. ^ Manson, Bill (18 June 1998). "Irvine Ranch heiress claims her horse South Pacific murdered in Valley Center". The San Diego Reader. Archived from the original on 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  21. ^ Lerner, Robert (2019-12-22). "Death claims fabled horsewoman | Valley Roadrunner". Valley Roadrunner. Archived from the original on 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  22. ^ Manson, Bill (18 June 1998). "Irvine Ranch heiress claims her horse South Pacific murdered in Valley Center | San Diego Reader". San Diego Reader. Archived from the original on 2021-08-26. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  23. ^ "Distinguished Alumnae". Westridge School for Girls. Archived from the original on 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
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