Oct 06, 2008 Issue | Updated Oct 6 5:40pm 
May 29, 2008 3:27 PM
2008 Alumni Awards go to outstanding teachers, students
A select group of faculty and students will receive 2008 Alumni Awards from UCLA's Alumni Association in recognition of their outstanding achievement, commitment to excellence, and service to the university and the greater community. The honorees will receive their honors at a private ceremony on June 1 on the UCLA campus.
Faculty receiving awards are:
Five alumni will also receive 2008 Alumni Awards.
Bjork, a professor in the UCLA Department of Psychology and chair of the Academic Senate, will receive the 2008 Distinguished Teaching Award. She is credited with creating groundbreaking teaching programs and courses. Since 1993, Bjork has served as both a member and chair of UCLA's Teaching Assistant Training Committee, as well as chair of the psychology department's undergraduate affairs committee. Bjork oversees the Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, an annual event that offers undergraduates the opportunity to present their research in a professional environment.
Fong, a professor in the UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology for the past 12 years, will receive the Undergraduate Mentorship Award. Fong has developed and taught numerous courses in ecology and marine biology, including on-site classes in Australia and Tahiti. She has participated in her department's curriculum committee, served as chair of an ad hoc committee to review undergraduate curriculum and acted as her department's undergraduate advisor. Fong is president-elect of the California Estuarine Research Society and a member of the governing board of the International Estuarine Research Foundation.
Garro, a professor in the UCLA Department of Anthropology, will receive the Distinction in Teaching at the Graduate Level Award. Garro joined the department in 1997, offering courses on medical and cognitive anthropology, as well as Native American health issues. She currently serves as the chair or co-chair of seven doctoral committees and has pioneered the anthropology department's Mind, Medicine and Culture interest group. She has written or edited several books on medical and psychological anthropology, including "The Ethnography of Health Care Decisions." Garro has been honored with the Society for Psychological Anthropology's Stirling Prize and a five-year career award as a National Health Research Scholar for the National Health Research and Development Program of Canada.
Ruiz, a professor in the UCLA Department of History, will receive the 2008 Distinguished Teaching Award. Ruiz arrived at UCLA in 1998 and served as chair of the history department from 2002 to 2005. In 1995, he was honored as the Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and in 1997, he was the 250th Anniversary Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton University. He has received a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Schwartz, a professor in the UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, will receive the 2008 Distinguished Teaching Award. Schwartz has conducted research on electron-transfer processes, a set of phenomena fundamental to many fields of chemistry, physics and biology. He has served as the physical chemistry graduate advisor and is currently the department's graduate advisor. When he arrived at UCLA in 1997, he introduced "Schwartz cards," a simple but very effective method of evaluating his courses by asking students to submit questions and personally responding to each one. He has organized a number of national symposia and in 2005 was appointed senior editor of the Journal of Physical Chemistry.
Winter, a professor in the UCLA Department of Music, will receive the Eby Award for the Art of Teaching. Winter, who joined the music department in 1974, is a popular public speaker who has lectured and performed for countless audiences. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1993 and the Frances Densmore Prize from the American Musicological Society's Board of Directors in 1990. In 1989, he authored the Voyager Company's first interactive CD-ROM, regarded today as the first commercial interactive publication. At UCLA, Winter has served as the Presidential Chair in Music and Interactive Arts and founded and directed UCLA's Center for the Digital Arts. He is currently president of Calliope, a multimedia publishing company.
Graduate students receiving Alumni Awards are:
Amah '02 is currently pursuing her doctorate in education at UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. Her research centers on critical race theory, eco-cultural theory and African American students' pursuits of postsecondary education. During her time at UCLA, Amah has held three graduate research positions working with local school districts and community-based organizations to prepare underrepresented and low-income students to go on to college, served as a co-facilitator and graduate mentor at UCLA, and is currently co-president of UCLA's Graduate Student Association in Education.
Ngueyn M.P.H. '99, M.A.'05, will receive her doctorate in social welfare this summer. As a Fulbright scholar, she conducted dissertation fieldwork in Vietnam from 2006 to 2007 on issues related to food security, nutrition and HIV/AIDS. She has volunteered as an organizer for the American Public Health Association and has worked as a consultant for Homeless Health Care Los Angeles. Nguyen received a student grant from the UCLA School of Public Health's Community Health Promotion Program for her work on osteoporosis prevention.
The following graduating seniors are being honored with the 2008 Distinguished Senior Award: Nisha Bansal, Suzanne Berkovitz, Gregory Cendana, Linda Chu, Jessica Gu, Thomas Hanff, Rachael Kartsonis, Drew Kirkpatrick, Chase Knowles, Michael Marcus, Antonio Moya, Brian Murray, Edward Pham, Doron (Robby) Nadler, Adena Schutzman, Michael Safaee, Aida Sun and Jamie Zimmerman.
Find more on the annual Alumni Awards at the UCLA Alumni Association .
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