Category Archives: Uncategorized

Assemblymember Don Wagner (UCLA, ’83), R-Irvine, receives the Outstanding Advocacy award for his leadership on higher education issues from President Napolitano, center, and Board of Regents Chair Monica Lozano, right, at the UC Board of Regents meeting in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016.

UC President Napolitano announced the inaugural Outstanding Advocacy award recipients at the Sept. 14 UC Board of Regents meeting. The awards, granted jointly by the university president and Board of Regents chair, recognize the efforts of state legislators who champion public higher education and fight consistently to keep it accessible and affordable for California students.

Four California legislators were honored for their support of higher education and UC: Assemblymember Don Wagner (R-Irvine) and Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis), who are the two founding co-chairs of the UC Legislative Roundtable; Senator Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge), who is chair of the Senate Education Committee; and Assemblymember Das Williams (D-Carpinteria), who is the former Chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee. Additionally, community leader and UCLA alumnus Howard Welinsky was recognized as one of the university’s strongest allies.

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With the support of locally elected officials, UCLA students were transported by bus to locations all across the city during Volunteer Day.

The proof was posted on an office door — a collection of more than 20 letters from elected dignitaries across the state. It was a culmination of an effort that resulted in more than $140 million in public-private investment to Southern California.

Earlier this summer, it was announced that the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute’s California regional hub would be headquartered in Los Angeles and spearheaded by UCLA, among other collegial partners. The hard work to win the project started in May 2013, and culminated in a $70 million matching grant that was only possible by the combined efforts of elected officials at local, state and federal levels, along with an eager community coalition.

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U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez greets students during a special higher education luncheon event that also touched on her U.S. Senate candidacy. (photos by Jonathan Van Dyke)

When she was very young, U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange) found herself on the front cover of a newspaper as a member of the first class of Head Start.

She might not have known it as a preschooler, but Sanchez said she more than understands the transformative power of education, especially that of higher education.

“You’re looking at a public-private former student, someone who was invested in,” she said after telling her Head Start story and noting that she later received financial help from Rotary to attain her Masters Degree.

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IARPA Director Dr. Jason Matheny talks with several UCLA faculty members before a breakfast roundtable. (photo by Jonathan Van Dyke)

The United States national intelligence community could be fertile ground for UCLA research, and in more ways than a typical outsider might think, said a federal director during his visit to campus on Thursday.

Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) Director Dr. Jason Matheny visited with more than 30 UCLA officials and faculty members who represent disciplines ranging from engineering, to medicine to nanosystems.

“UCLA has so much talent in so many disciplines,” Matheny said during an informal morning breakfast at the James West Alumni Center with faculty and graduate students. “The research interests of faculty and students here are highly relevant to much of the work that IARPA funds. One of my goals is to increase awareness at UCLA about IARPA’s research programs, which offer funding opportunities for faculty and students.”

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Last week, Vietnam veteran Rick Martinez joined a group of younger veterans with disabilities at the UCLA Anderson School to develop entrepreneurial skills. (photo by Jonathan Van Dyke)

As a homeless Vietnam veteran in the 1980s, Rick Martinez had to seek shelter nightly — sometimes at UCLA or the grounds of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus. At one point, to get out of bad weather, he stayed warm and comfortable in the staircase at the top floor of a Holiday Inn alongside the 405 freeway.

“If anyone came, I was just going to say I was looking for the bathroom,” he recalled. “That turned out to be my home for about two months.”

The unpredictable symmetry of life was not lost on Martinez when he found himself decades later back at UCLA, this time as a participant of the UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities that ran July 9-17. And the hotel the program put him up in during the course? The Hotel Angeleno — formerly the Holiday Inn.

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