Campus to award prestigious UCLA Medals during commencement 2010

UCLA will bestow the UCLA Medal on two notable people this commencement season in recognition of their exceptional contributions as leaders in the fields of medicine and business.

 

At separate ceremonies in June, the university's highest honor will be presented to:

 

Dr. Gerald S. Levey, who will receive the award at the David Geffen School of Medicine commencement at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 4, in UCLA's Dickson Court North. Until last January, Levey was vice chancellor for medical sciences at UCLA and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine, posts he held for 15 years.

 

Henry Samueli, who will be awarded the medal at the commencement ceremony for his namesake school — the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science — at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 12, at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the UCLA campus. Samueli is the co-founder of Broadcom Corp. and a recognized expert in the field of broadband communications circuits.

 

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said the UCLA Medal is awarded to those who have made extraordinary and distinguished contributions to their professions, to higher education, to society and to the university.

 

"These recipients have not only experienced the highest level of success in their lives and careers, but each also has demonstrated his deep commitment to UCLA and to the world around them." Block said. "It is a great honor to bestow these medals as a way of showing our appreciation for all they have done for our society and our community."

Previous medal recipients have included former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter; United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; planetary physicist Carl Sagan; writers Neil Simon and Isaac Bashevis Singer; and business leaders Lloyd Cotsen, Richard Ziman, and Eli and Edythe Broad.

 

Levey, who will also be the keynote speaker at the David Geffen School of Medicine ceremony, arrived on campus to head the UCLA Health in 1994, soon after the Northridge earthquake caused significant damage to the old UCLA Medical Center. Subsequently, he oversaw the planning, construction and completion of the state-of-the-art Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He also enabled the construction of advanced research laboratories, awarded medical degrees to more than 2,500 medical students and attracted millions of dollars in donations.

 

Levey, who was succeeded in January by Dr. A. Eugene Washington, remains at UCLA as a distinguished professor of medicine and dean emeritus.

 

"The Ronald Reagan hospital was his vision, and there is no better hospital in the world, any way you measure it," said Dr. David Feinberg, CEO and associate vice chancellor of the UCLA Hospital System.

 

Samueli, who will also be the keynote speaker at the School of Engineering and Applied Science commencement, co-founded Broadcom in 1991 with another UCLA alumnus, Henry Nicholas, and built it into one of the world's leading semiconductor businesses. Samueli is currently chief technical officer of the firm.

 

The Samueli family owns the Honda Center (formerly Arrowhead Pond) and the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Both the Samueli family and the Broadcom have played a vital role in the economic and cultural development of Orange County. 

 

Vijay K. Dhir, dean of UCLA Engineering, said Samueli has a long history of involvement at UCLA, starting with receiving his three degrees from the School of Engineering in the 1970s and '80s.

 

"He has not only donated generously to the school and institution but continues to give tirelessly of his time," Dhir said. "His philanthropic endeavors also extend far into the Southern California community. There is no one more deserving of this honor."

 

 

For more information about the UCLA Medal and a list of past recipients, visit the medal website.

 

This commencement season, the university will be conferring more than 10,000 bachelor's, master's, doctoral and professional degrees during commencement ceremonies. The School of Law commencement took place on May 7 with U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen Rapp as speaker. 

Upcoming commencements on the campus include, in chronological order:

 

Friday, June 4, at 5 p.m. in Dickson Court North

Speaker: Gerald S. Levey, former dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine

 

Sunday, June 6, at 10 a.m. in Royce Hall

Speaker: Scott L. Waugh, UCLA executive vice chancellor and provost

 

Friday, June 11, at 9 a.m. in Royce Hall

 

Friday, June 11, at 4 p.m. in Wilson Plaza

Speaker: Angel R. Martinez, chairman, president and CEO of Deckers Outdoor Corp.

 

Friday, June 11, at 4 p.m. in Dickson Court North

Speaker: Peter Guber, chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment

 

Friday, June 11, at 5 p.m. in Drake Stadium

Speaker: Gustavo Arellano, writer and author of the "¡Ask a Mexican!" column in the OC Weekly

 

Friday, June 11, at 5:30 p.m. in Royce Hall

Speaker: U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin

 

Saturday, June 12, at 8 a.m. in Royce Hall

Speaker: Terry Fulmer, the Erline Perkins McGriff Professor and dean of the College of Nursing at the College of Dentistry at New York University

 

Saturday, June 12, at 9 a.m. at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the UCLA campus

Speaker: Henry Samueli, co-founder of Broadcom Corp.

 

Saturday, June 12, at 4 p.m. in Wilson Plaza

Speaker: Aimée Dorr, dean of the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies

 

Saturday, June 12, at 4 p.m. in Dickson Court North

Speaker: Judy Mitoma, director of the UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance and professor of dance in the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures

 

Other college and professional school graduations will include the UCLA Graduate Division doctoral hooding ceremony on Thursday, June 10, at 7 p.m. in Royce Hall and the UCLA College of Letters and Science honors graduation on Friday, June 11, at 3 p.m. in Royce Hall.

 

UCLA is California's largest university, with an enrollment of nearly 38,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university's 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer more than 323 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Five alumni and five faculty have been awarded the Nobel Prize.

 

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