Five executives from the entertainment, real estate and wine industries have joined the board of directors for the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation (JCCF), the fundraising arm of UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC).
Larry Maguire is president and CEO of Far Niente Winery in Oakville, Calif. Maguire also co-chairs Taste for a Cure, the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation’s signature fundraising event. He previously has served on the Parents Leadership Council at Boston University and the Parents Board of Linfield College, Ore. A graduate of St. Mary’s College of California, Maguire resides in St. Helena.
Gary Newman is chairman of Twentieth Century Fox Television and was honored at Taste for a Cure 2009 as co-recipient of the Gil Nickel Humanitarian Award. Newman also serves on the boards of homeless relief organization Chrysalis, the Hollywood Radio & Television Society, the Jewish Television Network and the Windward School. A graduate of Yale University and the University of Southern California Law Center, Newman lives in Brentwood.
Mitchell Poole is an attorney and partner in the real estate group at Sidley Austin LLP. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Brown University, his master’s degree in business administration at the University of Colorado-Boulder and his law degree at Pepperdine University School of Law. Poole participates in Taste for a Cure, as well as Lifeline Connection, a prestigious cadre of donors who support the JCCC’s highest priority research projects. Poole lives in West Los Angeles.
Certified Public Accountant William H. Tanner is a partner and co-founder of Tanner Mainstain Blatt & Glynn and AMI Asset Management, Inc. Tanner is an alumnus of UCLA and Golden Gate University who encourages his extensive business network to support the JCCF’s fundraising efforts. He was raised in West Los Angeles and currently resides in Pacific Palisades.
Jordan Walder is managing director for Real Estate Capital Markets at Wells Fargo. Walder earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His previous volunteer involvements include the Jewish Community Center and Boy Scouts of America. Walder lives in Beverly Hills.
“We are gratified that five outstanding community leaders are joining the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation board of directors at this critical juncture,” said Judith C. Gasson, the cancer center’s director. “We welcome the participation of Larry Maguire, Gary Newman, Mitchell Poole, Bill Tanner and Jordan Walder in raising funds to further our efforts to provide more effective therapies that benefit cancer patients everywhere.”
Each board member will serve a three-year term, which began this month.
Dana Walden, chairman of 20th Century Fox Television, who joined the board in 2010, also was elected as a new Vice Chair.
Gasson noted, “We’re tremendously grateful to Dana Walden for accepting the leadership role of vice chair for the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation board of directors. She is a true champion of our life-saving work and we appreciate her commitment to securing philanthropic support for cancer research at UCLA.”
The JCCF Board of Directors is led by Chair Randall M. Katz, and Vice Chairs Jay Sures and Dana Walden. Katz is president of Milestone Entertainment and a director of the Ron and Maddie Katz Family Foundation. Sures is a partner and board member at United Talent Agency and the 2007 recipient of the JCCF’s Gil Nickel Humanitarian Award. Walden was also a 2009 co-recipient of the Gil Nickel Humanitarian Award with Newman. Other 2011-2012 JCCF board officers include treasurer Jonathan Davidson, a partner at Westridge Capital LLC, and secretary Leonard Rome, senior associate dean for research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the cancer center’s deputy director for strategic planning and partnerships. Gasson also serves as president of the JCCF board of directors.
The Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation, founded in 1945, is the single most important vehicle for raising private funds for cancer research at UCLA. Through events such as Taste for a Cure and iChallenge, the Foundation supports high priority cancer research efforts focused on converting laboratory discoveries into more effective and less toxic therapies for cancer patients.
