Michael Gottfredson, executive vice chancellor and provost at UC Irvine, will receive the Extraordinarius award May 17 at the 42nd annual Lauds & Laurels ceremony, sponsored by the UCI Alumni Association. He is among 20 campus faculty, staff and students who will be honored. Social sciences recipients include David Snow, Distinguished Professor of sociology, with the Faculty Achievement award; James Weatherall, logic & philosophy of science graduate student, with the Outstanding Graduate Student award; and Nadia Bermudez, political science `98, with the Social Sciences Distinguished Alumni award.

“Lauds & Laurels is our opportunity to publicly recognize and thank those people who make a positive impact on the university and our community,” said Jorge Ancona, assistant vice chancellor for alumni relations and UCIAA executive director.

The event, which is being held in the UCI Student Center’s Pacific Ballroom, begins with a reception at 6 p.m.

Gottfredson has been widely praised for seeing the campus through unparalleled growth, even as the university faced significant budget challenges. In addition to his considerable workload as EVC/provost, he is a highly regarded criminologist who teaches freshman- and graduate-level classes.

He has also served on the endowment committee for Orange County United Way and on the boards of directors for the Orange County Technology Action Network and the Elliott Family Foundation.

This year’s Outstanding University Service recipients, Liz Toomey and Daniel Aldrich III, have lifelong ties to the campus. They are the children of UCI’s founding chancellor, the late Daniel G. Aldrich Jr. Toomey is assistant vice chancellor for community and government relations, and Aldrich recently completed a stint as interim vice chancellor for advancement.

James Newkirk is being named Honorary Alumnus. He and his wife, Martha, Ph.D. ’81, are longtime campus supporters. They have endowed two fellowships in social ecology, and their name is on the Newkirk Pavilion at Anteater Ballpark and the Newkirk Center for Science & Society. The couple recently made a donation allowing work to begin on the Newkirk Alumni Center, which is expected to be completed this fall.

Since the first Lauds & Laurels event in 1971, the UCI Alumni Association has recognized more than 700 people, but Lauds & Laurels is more than an awards ceremony, Ancona said. Net proceeds from table sponsorships and individual ticket sales go to the UCIAA student scholarship fund. Last year’s Lauds & Laurels gala raised about $55,000.

Tickets to the May 17 event are $250, with 10-person tables available by calling 949-824-2586.

The complete roster of 2012 Lauds & Laurels honorees is:

Extraordinarius
Michael Gottfredson

Outstanding University Service
Daniel Aldrich III and Liz Toomey

Honorary Alumnus
James Newkirk

Outstanding Undergraduate Student
Armaan Rowther, Biological Sciences and Dalai Lama Scholar

Outstanding Graduate Student
James Weatherall, Social Sciences (logic & philosophy of science)

Outstanding Student-Athlete
Charles Jock, Social Ecology and Track & Field

Staff Achievement
Sue Marshall, Department of Education

Faculty Achievement
David Snow, Social Sciences (sociology)

Distinguished Alumni
Darren Wilsey, M.F.A. ’05, Claire Trevor School of the Arts
Channing Der, Ph.D. ’81, School of Biological Sciences
Al De Grassi ’77, M.S. ’79, The Paul Merage School of Business
Terrance Walker, M.A. ’02, Department of Education
Truc Vu, M.S. ’88, Ph.D. ’92, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering
Everardo Stanton ’01, Ph.D. ’09, School of Humanities
Walt Scacchi, Ph.D. ’81, Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences
Victor Passy, M.D. ’59, School of Medicine
John Hemminger ’71, School of Physical Sciences
Peter Fischler ’80, School of Social Ecology
Nadia Bermudez ’98, School of Social Sciences (political science)

-Cathy Lawhon, University Communications