Jason Speyer, a distinguished professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, has been named the inaugural holder of the school's Ronald and Valerie Sugar Chair in Engineering.

 

The chair was established with a $1 million gift from UCLA alumni Ronald D. Sugar, former chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman Corp., and his wife, Valerie Sugar.

 

"Jason Speyer is a recognized leader in guidance and control systems for aviation and aerospace craft, as well as an excellent educator," said Vijay K. Dhir, dean of UCLA Engineering. "I am pleased he has been named to this prestigious chair and am grateful for the generous contributions of Ron and Valerie Sugar, who have long been friends of the school."

 

Learn more in this School of Engineering newsroom story.

Shaily Mahendra, an assistant professor of  civil and environmental engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, has been selected as a 2013 DuPont Young Professor. Mahendra is one of 14 faculty members hailing from seven countries, who have received this prestigious recognition from the global science and technology company, headquartered in Wilmington, Del. The award includes $25,000 per year for three years in unrestricted funds.

Susan Edelstein, founder and director of UCLA TIES for Families and an adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, received an Advocate Award from RaiseAChild.US for her work on behalf of foster children and the families who raise them. RaiseAChild, a national organization that encourages the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community to build families through foster parenting and adoption, presented Edelstein with the award at its annual gala at the W Hotel in Hollywood on May 19.

 

UCLA TIES for Families promotes the successful growth, development and adoption of children with special needs who are in foster care. The program is located on the UCLA campus and works in close collaboration with community welfare and mental health systems. The program employs an innovative model of intervention to reduce barriers to the adoption of these children and support their successful transition into permanent homes with stable, nurturing families.

 

“Susan was one of the early leaders in recognizing that LGBT people are invaluable resources for the struggling U.S. foster care system,” said Rich Valenza, founder and executive director of  RaiseAChild.US, whose own family used the services of TIES upon adopting two foster children. “She believed that LGBT people can be, and are, excellent parents.”

The UCLA Asian American Studies Center recently announced the appointment of professor Robert Teranishi as the inaugural holder of the Morgan and Helen Chu Endowed Chair in Asian American Studies, effective this fall. He's also being appointed as professor of education in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

 

Professor Teranishi’s research examines the causes and consequences of the stratification of college opportunities, with a particular interest on the impact of higher education practice and policy on the mobility of the most marginalized and vulnerable communities. He is author of the critically acclaimed, "Asian Americans in the Ivory Tower: Dilemmas of Racial Inequality in American Higher Education" (Teacher’s College Press, 2010).

 

Teranishi’s research has influenced federal, state and institution policy related to college access and completion. He has testified before Congress, and his research has been referenced in U.S. Supreme Court cases on desegregation and affirmative action. Recently, he provided strategic planning and restructuring consultation for the Ford Foundation.

 

Currently a faculty member at New York University, Teranishi has received NYU’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award and the Daniel E. Griffiths Research Award. In 2011, he was appointed by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to the U.S. Department of Education’s Equity and Excellence Commission. Professor Teranishi received his B.A. from UC Santa Cruz in Sociology and his M.A. and Ph.D. from UCLA in higher education and organizational change.

 

“It is an honor and privilege to be the inaugural Morgan and Helen Chu Professor at UCLA,” stated Professor Robert Teranishi, “I am eager to arrive and get engaged with faculty and students in Asian American Studies and the broader campus community around my interests in improving the educational experiences and outcomes of Asian American and Pacific Islander students.”

 

 

 

Gary Orfield, professor of education and director of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA, has been selected by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) to present the 2013 Brown Lecture in Education Research.

 

“It is fitting that this announcement comes at the AERA annual meeting, where Orfield is featured at a session on diversity in higher education and the challenges to affirmative action,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. That session examines the case, Fisher v. University of Texas—Austin, and the impact on higher education of the impending decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

 

Orfield's expertise is in civil rights, education policy, urban policy, and minority opportunity. His research focus has been the impact of policy decisions on equal opportunity for success in American society. 

 

The  Brown Lecture, now in its 10th year, was inaugurated by AERA in 2004 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court first took scientific research into account in issuing its landmark ruling. The public lecture will occur on Oct. 24 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

 

“The Brown Lecture in Education Research is an annual reminder of the role social scientific research plays in the advancement of equality and equity in education and American society,” said Levine.

 

A UCLA professor and alumna were among the recipients at the third annual Nurse 21 awards honoring those who have demonstrated leadership in advancing health and for their commitments to enriching the nursing profession.

Joining ranks that include Albert Einstein and Alexander Graham Bell, two professors from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have been elected by their peers to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their important research.

Dr. J. Thomas Rosenthal, chief medical officer for UCLA Health System, and the UCLA Mobile Clinic Project, were honored by the Los Angeles Business Journal with its 2013 Healthcare Leadership Awards at an April 18 luncheon at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. The awards applaud individuals, organizations and programs that help Angelenos receive better health care and recognize those that lead the front lines of health care.

 

Rosenthal oversees the daily care provided to some 80,000 patients a year by UCLA Health System’s four hospitals — Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA,  Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital and UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica — and serves as the liaison between the medical staff and health care administration.

 

The UCLA Mobile Clinic Project is organized by students from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, with support from undergraduate volunteers and students at the UCLA School of Law. Under the supervision of Dr. Walter Coppenrath, UCLA assistant clinical professor of family medicine, students provide medical aid to the homeless and underserved on the sidewalks of West Hollywood every Wednesday evening. 

The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) has announced that Dr. Cun-Yu Wang, professor and chair of the Department of Oral Biology and Medicine and associate dean for graduate studies at the School of Dentistry at UCLA, is the recipient of the 2013 IADR Distinguished Scientist Award in Basic Research in Biological Mineralization.

 

He was recognized at the association’s 91th General Session & Exhibition in Seattle, Wash. in March.

 

Wang earned his D.D.S. degree and certificate in pediatric dentistry from Peking University, China, and his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He conducted postdoctoral studies at the Forsyth Institute in Cambridge, Mass.