CONGRATS

Neal Halfon, professor of pediatrics and public health, has been appointed by Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn to a three-year term on the Los Angeles Commission for Children, Youth and Their Families. The 11-member panel, made up of child and family advocates from an array of backgrounds, helps coordinate public and private resources to improve access to child care, health and educational services in the Los Angeles area.... Marvin E. Ament has been selected by the American Academy of Pediatrics to receive the Murray Davidson Lectureship Award in the section of gastroenterology and nutrition. The award recognizes an outstanding clinician, educator and scientist who has made significant contri-butions to the field of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition.... The Friends of Sheba Medical Center, the largest and most comprehensive hospital in Israel, recently honored Gerald S. Levey, provost and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine, with its inaugural Medical Visionary Award at a gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The center provides care to trauma victims throughout the Middle East and also is a training center for physicians learning to treat victims of chemical and biological weapons.

KUDOS

UCLA Medical Center was honored for a second consecutive year at the American Heart Association 2002 Scientific Sessions with a Get With the Guidelines Coronary Artery Disease Performance Achievement Award. The honor recognizes UCLA’s dedication to implementing a new standard for cardiac care for patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease.... The Alzheimer’s Association awarded Desmond J. Smith the Nancy and Ronald Reagan Institute Grant for the study of the basic science of Alzheimer’s disease. The investigator-initiated research grant amounts to $240,000 over three years.... Michael Bucklin, graduate student in screenwriting at the School of Theater, Film and Television, won first prize in the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards for his coming-of-age comedy, “Teenorama.” The 47th annual awards recognize excellence in dramatic writing.... Maida Hastings has been named to the newly created position of associate dean for academic affairs. She was formerly the associate director of the Department of Education at UCLA Extension.

IN MEMORIAM

Harold B. Gerard, professor emeritus of psychology and one of the pioneers of experimental social psychology, died on Jan. 16 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles when he suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage following a lengthy bout with kidney failure. He was 79.

After becoming a World War II veteran, Gerard completed his undergraduate studies at Brooklyn College in 1947. With support from famed cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead, he pursued his doctorate at the University of Michigan.

In mid-career, Gerard turned to psychoanalysis, seeking to understand the phenomena of the unconscious. At 59, he entered psychoanalytic training in The Psychoanalytic Center of California in Los Angeles. After receiving his psychoanalytic certification, he built a clinical practice in Los Angeles while continuing his academic work at UCLA.

Among many distinctions, Gerard was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Fellowship to the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, and was twice designated a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages contributions to the National Kidney Foundation, which can be reached at (310) 641-8152.

.Daniel Kivelson, 73, a chemistry professor and administrator who studied molecular movement in liquids, died Jan. 22 of cancer at the UCLA Medical Center. His wife, Margaret, and son, Steven, are both UCLA faculty members.

A New York native, Kivelson earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Harvard and had taught briefly at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before moving to UCLA in 1955. He served as the chair of the Department of Chemistry in 1975-78 and chair of the UCLA Academic Senate from 1979-80. He earned many accolades for both his research and teaching, including Guggenheim, Sloan and Fulbright Fellowships.

Though professionally known for his 50-year research on the way molecules move in liquids, Kivelson was also an avid collector of Turkoman rugs, which he described as a family obsession. The family lent pieces from their collection to shows at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., and, most recently, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The Kivelson family requests that donations be made to a fund that will be used to provide undergraduate research fellowships in chemistry. Checks may be made to the UCLA Foundation, with the notation “Kivelson Fund,” and sent to UCLA, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 3010 Young Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569.

A memorial service for Mia Slavenska, a dance faculty member, will be held 4 p.m. at the Faculty Center on Feb. 22. For information, call (310) 206-1556.