Applause — April 7, 2009

Elma L. Gonzalez, professor emeritus of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, has been named a 2009 Distinguished Alumni by Texas Woman’s University and the TWU Former Students Association. Gonzalez has been actively involved in increasing  participation by minority and female students in the sciences. She founded UCLA's Center for Academic and Research Excellence and was director of the Minority Access to Research Careers program. Gonzalez was named 2005 Pioneer Woman by the Los Angeles City Council and received the 2004 Distinguished Scientist award from the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.

Cathy Sandeen, dean of UCLA Extension, received the 2009 Research and Scholarship Award from the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA), the national organization of colleges, universities and nonprofit providers of professional and continuing higher education. Sandeen received the award on April 3 at UCEA’s national conference in Boston. She was recognized by UCEA for her research into the values, needs and preferences for continuing education and professional development among people of different generations. This research is helping continuing educators around the country to develop, market, and present programs that more effectively serve the needs of adults of all ages.

 

Dr. David Heber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, received one of 10 Creativity Awards from the Prostate Cancer Foundation for his research in using specialized white blood cells which are activated in obesity and may interact with prostate cancer cells, as a biomarker for assessing diet and lifestyle interventions on prostate cancer. PCF Creativity Awards aid the advancement of the world’s newest research ideas that are not currently funded by any existing government or private sources.These one-year awards are designed to support innovative ideas that have the potential to achieve breakthroughs for the detection and treatment of prostate cancer. A rigorous peer review process vetted the 10 selected projects from a field of more than 300 applications representing 105 institutions in 11 countries.

   

Pathway at UCLA Extension Executive Director Eric Latham received an award for Pathway at the national conference of the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) on April 4. UCEA recognized Pathway for achieving its educational objective of providing a certificate program through which young adults with developmental disabilities may experience educational, social, and vocational growth in a university setting, preparing them for independent, self-directed lives.

 

  

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has been selected as one of the country's leading hospitals, and one of the most highly recommended in a number of medical specialties, in a major survey of physicians across the nation. The results of the survey appear in the May-June issue of “AARP The Magazine,” the world’s largest-circulation magazine, with more than 34 million readers. To coincide with the release of the issue, the magazine debuted on its website an interactive map listing 125 top-ranked hospitals in the U.S. by geographic region. The list is based on a survey conducted by Consumers' Checkbook, a nonprofit research organization.