To participate in earthquake relief efforts in India, internationally renowned sitar virtuoso Shujaat Husain Khan flew to Gujarat to perform in a benefit concert on Feb. 11. He is a visiting professor in the Department of Ethnomusicology.... Dean Linda Rosenstock of the School of Public Health received the Partnership for Progress Award Feb. 6 for her leadership role as director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in fostering an unprecedented government-labor-industry partnership that significantly reduced worker exposure to asphalt fumes. The inaugural award was presented by the National Asphalt Pavement Association.... "Can Japan Compete?" (Perseus Books), recently selected by The Economist as one of its Books of the Year for 2000, was co-authored by Mariko Sakakibara, assistant professor of policy at The Anderson School. Her co-authors were Michael E. Porter and Hirotaka Takeuchi.

Nathan Edward Cohen, a former social welfare expert who helped shape the field of social work, died Jan. 27 in Oakland at the age of 91. Cohen was the first president of the National Association of Social Workers, which he helped form in 1955. As dean of UCLA's School of Social Welfare, he became one of the major forces behind a comprehensive, two-year study of the causes of the Watts riots. "The Los Angeles Riots: A Socio-Psychological Study," edited by Cohen and published in 1970, described the social and political conditions that existed before and after the riots and featured interviews with more than 2,000 people. Cohen resigned as dean in 1969 but continued to teach at the school for another decade.

Arthur Friedman, actor, professor and historian who chronicled the lives of more than 100 entertainment pioneers in his "Turning Point" radio series, died Jan. 23 of a heart attack. He was 81. Friedman began teaching in the School of Theater, Film and Television in 1948 and helped establish the television curriculum in 1951. He created, wrote and directed several TV, radio and theater productions and, following his retirement from UCLA in 1990, continued to attend campus productions and act in student films. Under the stage name of Arthur Bernard, Friedman appeared on network television series such as "Mannix" and "Star Trek," and in numerous theater productions, including "The Subject Was Roses" and "Death of a Salesman."

Marshall R. Urist, 86, a prominent orthopedic surgeon who practiced medicine, researched and taught at UCLA for nearly half a century, died Feb. 4, due to complications related to cardiovascular disease. An adjunct professor who led the field of orthopedics nationally and internationally for several decades, he served as president of several major national associations and societies and for 27 years was editor-in-chief of a prestigious orthopedics journal. His pioneering studies on bone induction and the identification of bone morphogenetic protein revolutionized orthopedic medicine by helping to establish the newly emerging field of orthopedic growth factor research.