Names & Faces

On Oct. 12, No-Hee Park, dean of the School of Dentistry since 1998, will be recognized as Alumnus of the Year of Seoul National University. A Distinguished Professor and noted cancer scientist, Park was selected for the honor on the basis of his "unrivaled achievements" in the field of dentistry and "outstanding professionalism." He earned two degrees and three certificates at Seoul National University.

Kathrin Plath, an assistant professor of biological chemistry whose recent work reprogramming skin stem cells into embryonic-like stem cells garnered widespread media attention, has been chosen to receive a prestigious New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Plath will receive a five-year, $1.5-million grant from the NIH, which is funding the work of 41 "exceptionally innovative investigators" nationwide.

John M.D. Pohl has joined the Fowler Museum as its first curator of the arts of the Americas. In this newly created position, Pohl will assume responsibility for developing exhibitions, publications and programs on the arts and expressive culture of the Americas, from the ancient to the contemporary. Pohl also will be responsible for the Fowler's vast collections from the Americas, comprising more than 25,000 objects.

Leonard H. Rome, senior associate dean for research at the David Geffen School of Medicine and a professor of biological chemistry, has been named interim director of UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute, pending the approval of the UC Board of Regents. Rome, an internationally renowned scientist who develops nanoparticles for drug delivery, has served as the institute's associate director for the past three years.