Applause
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed more UCLA faculty and administrators to serve on city commissions. Mary D. Nichols, director of the Institute of the Environment, has been named to the Board of Water and Power, which oversees the largest municipal utility in the nation. Mark Schuster, a professor of pediatrics and health services, will serve on the Commission for Children, Youth and Their Families. Victor Narro, project director of the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education, has been appointed to the Police Permit Review Panel.... Amir Dan Rubin will become chief operating officer at UCLA Medical Center and Hospital System, effective Oct. 10. He was chosen after an extensive national search.
In Memoriam
 William F. Friedman, former executive chairman of the department of pediatrics and senior associate dean for academic affairs at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, died on Aug. 25 in his home. He was 69.
Friedman — a gifted physician and researcher — enjoyed a prolific career as a pediatric cardiologist and academic leader that spanned more than 40 years, including 26 years at UCLA.
“Dr. Friedman was a true leader and visionary in the field of pediatric cardiology,” said Gerald S. Levey, vice chancellor of UCLA medical sciences and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine. “His knowledge and skill in the field of pediatric heart problems have been an inspiration to colleagues and medical students alike. Bill was one of our most distinguished faculty members and the UCLA community mourns his loss.”
Among his extensive accomplishments, Friedman’s research led to one of the most important therapeutic advances for the care of thousands of premature babies born each year in the United States. In 1972, he demonstrated that medical therapy could prevent the need for cardiac surgery to correct patent ductus arteriosus, a common heart defect in which a large blood vessel remains open abnormally after birth.
In the early 1970s, his laboratory introduced the use of two-dimensional echocardiography, or ultrasound, to pediatric medicine. During his pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Friedman edited the first modern edition of the Harriet Lane Handbook, a standard resource still used by medical students and pediatric residents worldwide. He also began a series of studies researching the relationship between vitamin D, unexplained excess calcium in the blood and narrowing of the heart’s major arterial outlet, the aorta, above the aortic valve.
Friedman joined the UCLA School of Medicine in 1979 and received the first endowed professorship in pediatrics. He served as chairman and then executive chairman of the department of pediatrics. In 1994, he became a senior adviser to the provost and dean of the medical school, and director of the training program in pediatric cardiology. In 1997, Friedman assumed the position of senior associate dean for academic affairs.
“Dr. Friedman not only was a pioneer who introduced modern technologies into his field of pediatric cardiology, but he also set the course for the department of pediatrics that would allow us to become one of the top academic pediatric programs internationally,” said Edward R.B. McCabe, current executive chairman of the department of pediatrics.
“Dr. Friedman also contributed greatly to the faculty of the school of medicine through his vast knowledge of the appointments and promotion process for UCLA medical school faculty, his commitment to integrity and excellence, and his wisdom in resolving complex procedural issues,” Levey said.
Prior to his tenure at UCLA, Friedman was the first pediatrician hired at the newly founded School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, where he was the chief of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology and professor of pediatrics. From 1962– 67, he was a senior investigator and pediatric cardiologist at the cardiology branch of the National Heart Institute.
Friedman dedicated his leadership to numerous organizations, including the Society for Pediatric Research; American Board of Pediatrics; American College of Cardiology; National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; and the American Heart Association.
He served on the editorial boards for all of the leading cardiology journals. He was editor of Pediatric Research and associate editor of Pediatric Annals.
During his lifetime, he was honored with an impressive array of awards, including the Cummings Award of the American College of Cardiology; and the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award, Award of Merit and Outstanding Achievement in Cardiovascular Medicine Award from the American Heart Association. Gov. Pete Wilson appointed him to the California Medical Board in 1994, and subsequently to the California Air Quality Board in 1997.
Friedman received his undergraduate degree in 1957 from Columbia College, where he played on the varsity basketball team, and his medical degree cum laude from the State University of New York in 1961.
He is survived by his wife of 29 years, Denise; his sons Michael and Jonathan; grandchildren Jasmyn and Acacia; sister Vivian Portnoy of Baltimore; nephew David Portnoy of Baltimore; niece Sharon Danzig of Mill Valley; and nephews Derek and Tyler Stattin and Kevin Willett; brother-in-law Bruce Willett; sisters-in-law Donne Willett and Delle Willett Stattin, and father-in-law Rolly Willett, all of San Diego.
UCLA will hold a memorial service at a later date. Memorial donations can be made to the UCLA Foundation for the William F. Friedman Memorial Fund at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 10833 Le Conte Ave., CHS 12-138, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1722.
Leonard M. Linde, 77, who worked with the nationwide Committee of Responsibility to bring children injured in the Vietnam War to the UCLA Medical Center's pediatric department for treatment, died Aug./14 in Los Angeles of unspecified causes.
Linde and the organization began the program in 1967 as the war escalated. Honorary chairmen were Albert Sabin and Benjamin Spock. Vietnamese actress France Nuyen narrated a fund-raising documentary. The children, Linde told supporters, generally needed plastic and reconstructive surgery unavailable in South Vietnam.
Linde also worked with the Los Angeles Heart Institute at St. Vincent Medical Center, serving as chief of pediatric cardiology for the institute and the hospital. The institute provided cardiac surgery for children born with heart defects in the United States, Mexico and elsewhere.
Born in New York and educated at UC Berkeley, Linde completed his residency at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. From 1959 to 1976, he taught at UCLA and headed the pediatric cardiology department at the UCLA Medical Center. He later taught at the USC School of Medicine. |
