Names & Faces

Ines Boechat, professor of radiology and pediatrics and chief of pediatric imaging at the Geffen School of Medicine, was elected president of the Society for Pediatric Radiology for 2008. The 1,400-member organization is dedicated to advancing pediatric health care through medical imaging and image-related therapy.

Robin L. Garrell, professor of chemistry, has been elected the new vice chair and chair-elect of the UCLA Academic Senate. One of her top goals will be to ensure that faculty members are fully engaged in campus decision-making. Among her leadership roles, Garrell served as chair of the Faculty of the College and co-chair of UCLA's reaccreditation steering committee.

Ernest Morrell, associate professor of urban schooling and associate director for youth research at the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access, is this year's winner of the Education Department Distinguished Teaching Award. For more than a decade, he has worked with adolescents, drawing on their involvement with popular culture to promote academic literacy.

David N. Myers, professor of history and director of the Center for Jewish Studies, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy for Jewish Research, the oldest organization of Judaic scholars in North America. The academy is made up of the most distinguished and most senior scholars teaching Judaic studies at American universities.

The Department of Urban Planning hosted a celebration of the work of Edward W. Soja, professor of urban planning in the School of Public Affairs, on May 9 in honor of his elevation to emeritus status at the end of this academic year. The event included the presentation of the Edward W. Soja Prize for Critical Thinking in Urban and Regional Research for the best article published in Critical Planning, the UCLA Journal of Urban Planning (Vol. 15, Summer 2008).

Jack Rothman, professor emeritus of social welfare, published the seventh edition of his book, "Strategies of Community Intervention." First published in 1970, the book has been updated and expanded with new material on AIDS, environmental and consumer protection, organizing senior citizens, farm workers, activism, fighting "big box" expansionism, and using the Internet in community practice. In 2007, Rothman received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

Joseph K. Perloff, Streisand/American Heart Association Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics emeritus at the Geffen School of Medicine, is the inaugural recipient of the American College of Cardiology's Lifetime Achievement Award. Perloff, known as the "founding father" of a new cardiac subspecialty, congenital heart disease in the adult, was recognized for his long and outstanding career in cardiovascular disease and for serving as a model through his service, teaching and work in basic or clinical research.

Gerald D. Buckberg, distinguished professor of surgery in the division of cardiothoracic surgery at the Geffen School of Medicine, was awarded the 2008 Gibbon Award by the American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology at the organization's 46th international conference. He was selected for his significant contributions to the field of myocardial protection and for his work on controlled reperfusion.

Bruce Ovbiagele, associate professor of neurology at the Geffen School of Medicine and director of the Olive View-UCLA stroke program, was honored with the 2008 Michael S. Pessin Stroke Leadership Award at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting in Chicago. Ovbiagele was selected for his work in creating a hospital-based quality improvement stroke care program called Preventing Recurrence Of Thrombo-embolic Events through Coordinated Treatment (PROTECT).

Jeffrey L. Cummings, the Augustus S. Rose Professor of Neurology, has been awarded the 2008 Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute Award. The award was presented to Cummings at the Alzheimer's Association's Fifth Annual National Alzheimer's Gala in Washington, D.C. The award recognizes Cummings, who is the director of the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research and the Deane F. Johnson Center for Neurotherapeutics at UCLA, for his leadership and contributions to Alzheimer's research. He is the author of the neuropsychiatric inventory (NPI), a widely used scale that measures behavioral changes in neurological disease.

Jeffrey H. Miller, distinguished professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, and member of UCLA's Molecular Biology Institute, has won the EMS Award from the Environmental Mutagen Society in recognition of outstanding research contributions in the area of environmental mutagenesis.

Hillel Laks, professor of cardiac surgery at the Geffen School of Medicine, was honored as one of this year's ICONs of Healthy and Active Living at the UCLA Center on Aging's annual ICON Awards gala in May. Laks founded the UCLA Heart Transplant program, the UCLA Heart-Lung Transplant program and the Pediatric Mechanical Assist Device program. He has pioneered innovative surgical techniques, new treatments for congenital heart disease, and groundbreaking methods to extend the useful life of a donor heart.

David Hayes-Bautista, professor of medicine and director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at the Geffen School of Medicine, was honored as one of three 2008 Champions of Health Professions Diversity by The California Wellness Foundation. In recognition of his efforts to reduce entry barriers and to ensure the success of underrepresented minorities in the health workforce, Hayes-Bautista received a cash award of $25,000.

A celebration in honor of the deanship of Barbara J. Nelson was held June 9 at the UCLA School of Public Affairs. Nelson announced her plans earlier this year to step down as dean of the school after more than 10 years of leadership. She will return as a full-time professor to the school's Public Policy Department to continue her research on conflict mediation.