SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Famed physicist Stephen Hawking is in San Diego honoring one of his oldest friends, the late San Diego philanthropist Dennis Avery.
Hawking and Avery were classmates at Cambridge University.
Saturday, Hawking attending a tree planting at the Chinese Bilingual Preschool in Kearny Mesa. He talked about what an honor it was to be in San Diego, with Avery's wife Sally.
"It is a great honor to receive the lapel pin with the seal of San Diego and to have a day named after me," said Hawking.
"Stephen Hawking picked the tree out. It's a peach tree," said Sue Tsui Wong-Avery. "In Chinese it stands for longevity, good friendship, and it will blossom lovely flowers."
Avery and his wife donated $6 million to found the preschool where the tree was planted.