Applause

School of Law Professors Gary Blasi and Kenneth Klee made the Daily Journal's annual list of the Top 100 Attorneys in California. Blasi, a public interest lawyer, and Klee, an expert on bankruptcy, were mentioned in the legal newspaper's Sept. 20 edition.

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) honored Professor Eva Baker of the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies with its prestigious Henry Chauncery Award for Distinguished Service to Education and Assessment Science. According to ETS Senior Vice President Michael Nettles, Baker was honored for her "scholarship and leadership in measurement, methodology, psychology and technology in the service of education."

Thomas Smith, a conservation biologist and ecologist who has developed new theories on how species of birds and other animals evolve in rainforests, has been named acting director of the Institute of the Environment. Smith, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and founder/director of UCLA's Center for Tropical Research, will lead the institute while a nationwide search is conducted for a permanent director. The previous director, Mary Nichols, was appointed chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

John Sandbrook, executive officer in the Office of the Administrative Vice Chancellor, is one of two non-Academic Senate members who were recently elected to the UC Retirement System Advisory Board. Sandbrook and Tricia M. Hiemstra, benefits manager at UC Santa Barbara, will serve from now until June 30, 2011.

Simon Law, associate professor of ophthalmology at the Jules Stein Eye Institute, was chosen by the American Geriatrics Society to receive its prestigious Dennis W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholars Award. He was selected due to the promise demonstrated in his research proposal on optic disc appearance in advanced age-related macular degeneration.

English Professor Harryette Mullen'spoetry anthology, "Recyclopedia" (Graywolf Press, 2006), has won a Beyond Margins Award from the writers' organization PEN. The award is given to emergent authors of color and carries a $1,000 prize. Mullen received her award at a ceremony in New York on Oct. 15.

Jorge R. Barrio, professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, has been appointed to UCLA's Elizabeth and Thomas Plott Chair in Gerontology. The endowed chair is held for a five-year term by a recipient who conducts research and educational activities related to aging and longevity in the areas of molecular biology, neuroscience and immunology.

Peter Hendrickson began his new assignment as associate vice chancellor for design and construction in UCLA's Capital Programs last June. He has more than 20 years' experience in architecture and facilities planning, including programming, interior and architectural design, budgeting, scheduling, project management, construction management, and staff supervision and development. Previously, Hendrickson served as director of facilities planning, design and construction for Cedars-Sinai Health System.

Ronni Sanlo, program coordinator for UCLA's GSE&IS Higher Education & Organizational Change M.Ed. in Student Affairs and director of the LGBTÊCampus Resource Center, won three awards at the Los Angeles City Council's first-ever LGBT Pride event at City Hall last June. She received the council's Community Hero Award for organizing UCLA's Lavender Graduation. She was recognized by the California Senate for receiving that award. And the California Assembly acknowledged her contributions to the LGBT community of Southern California.

The UCLA Library has received a $143,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for a pilot project to expand the scope of the Center for Primary Research and Training. Established in 2004, the center integrates special collections materials into UCLA's teaching and research mission by providing a substantive educational experience for graduate students that trains them in archival methods. Their work simultaneously makes "hidden" collections — those whose contents have not been fully organized and described — more accessible to all users, both at UCLA and beyond.