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Five honorees from Social Sciences are among this year's group of 18 award winners
The UCI Alumni Association has named Jim Danziger, political science research professor, as the recipient of the 2009 Lauds & Laurels' Extraordinarius Award. The award, presented since 1971, is the association's highest honor and recognizes those individuals who have prominently contributed to and supported the advancement of UCI's fundamental missions of teaching, research and public service.
In addition to Danziger, three current and one former social sciences Anteaters will receive Lauds & Laurels honors this year including Dave Leinen, social sciences assistant dean who will receive the Staff Achievement Award; Pam Kelley, '89 alumna, social science lecturer and co-founder of the Law Forum who will be honored with the Outstanding Community Service Award; Kathy Rim, political science graduate student who will receive the Outstanding Graduate Student Award; and Sam W. Downing, '67 alumnus and current president and CEO of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System who will be honored as the Outstanding Alumnus in Social Sciences. Learn more about their contributions below.
The 39th annual Lauds & Laurels ceremony will take place Thursday, May 14, at the Hilton Irvine/Orange County Airport. For a full list of award winners, ticketing and other information, please visit http://www.alumni.uci.edu/how_to_get_involved/ll_news.html.
Extraordinarius
Jim Danziger, Political Science Research Professor
If political science research professor Jim Danziger had been born centuries ago, he might have been an explorer. He has, after all, visited more than 50 countries - 14 just this past year alone while serving as a core faculty member aboard a 590-foot cruise liner for the Semester at Sea program. His research on information and communication technologies which began more than 25 years ago was considered a leap into unchartered territory - a venture which has proven invaluable given their pervasiveness in our lives today. His textbook, Understanding the Political World, now in its 9th edition, is considered pioneering for its macro, world view approach to teaching introductory political science, and he has, on more than one occasion during his 37 year tenure at UCI, been hailed as a trailblazer for his ability as an administrator to garner consensus among competing crowds. Read on...
Staff Achievement
Dave Leinen, Social Sciences Assistant Dean
In every organization, there are those go-to people who, day in and day out, can be counted on to make sure things run smoothly. For the past 25 years, working across multiple units on UCI's campus, Dave Leinen has been "that guy." Whether it's making tough decisions in order to effectively manage the School of Social Sciences' budget and staff - a job he has consistently done for the past 10 years as assistant dean of the largest academic unit on campus - to serving up hot dogs and hamburgers to hundreds of incoming freshmen, Leinen can always be counted on to be there with, according to Michael Poston, UCI's director of institutional research, "a smile on his face and a cheerful word for everyone." Read on...
Community Service
Pam Kelley, '89 Alumna, Social Science Lecturer and Law Forum Co-Founder
For Pam (Smith) Kelley, winner of this year's UCI Alumni Association Lauds and Laurels Outstanding Community Service Award, the desire to give back to the UCI community stems from her early experiences as an Anteater which began nearly 25 years ago. An Orange County native, Kelley was the first in her family to go to college. Her experience as an undergraduate political science major, she recalls, was a turning point in her life. "I benefited greatly from the high quality mentorship and education I received from the social sciences faculty," she says. "My college professors encouraged me to aim high, and the guidance I received at UCI certainly paved the way for law school and legal practice." Read on...
Outstanding Graduate Student
Kathy Rim, Political Science Graduate Student
Political science graduate student Kathy Rim says she often felt a disconnect between the history she read about in textbooks growing up and her own history and background as a Korean American in the United States. "I didn't feel like we learned much about Asian American history at all," she says. She has been working to fill that gap ever since, efforts which have collectively earned her this year's Alumni Association Lauds & Laurels Award for Outstanding Graduate Student. Read on...
Outstanding Alumnus in Social Sciences
Sam W. Downing, '67 Alumnus and CEO and President of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System
Sam W. Downing, president and chief executive officer of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System (SVMHS), remembers the buzz that surrounded UCI's launch in 1965. A Newport Beach resident and transfer student from Orange Coast Community College, he was one of UCI's inaugural 1,500 students. "There was a lot of excitement back then about 'the new university,'" he says. "For me, the excitement and ultimate decision to attend UCI was due to the research-oriented focus that I knew would come with a UC school being built adjacent to a very progressive and innovative area." Read on...
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