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Awards for Excellence Gala
Celebrates Leaders of
Today and Tomorrow
New
Alumni Leadership Scholarship
Announced
By Malinda Danziger | November 1, 2004
Two Scripps
Institution of Oceanography
alumni
stole the
spotlight at this year's
annual Awards for Excellence
Gala, hosted by the UCSD
Alumni Association. The
evening's top awards went
to Marcia McNutt '78 and
Ancel Keys '30.
Nearly
300 alumni, faculty and
friends of the university
attended the Oct. 23 event
honoring outstanding alumni,
distinguished faculty
and top National Merit
Scholars at the new Estancia
La Jolla Hotel and Spa.
Top contributors to the
Campaign for UCSD: Imagine
What's Next also were
honored.
Board
of Directors President,
Henry DeVries '79 announced
the newly established
Alumni Leadership Scholarship,
benefiting undergraduate
student leaders.
"A
distinguishing factor
among future alumni scholars
is often not so much academic
excellence, but leadership
potential. We must identify,
nurture and encourage
their leadership roles,"
said DeVries. "Our scholarship
will acknowledge their
work by assuming some
of the financial burden
of their work-study or
federal loan subsidies."
The
Alumni Leadership Scholarship
is awarded to students
who demonstrate strong
academic, campus or community
leadership, possess financial
need, and show potential
for future alumni involvement
in the Alumni Association
and university after graduation.
An
initial gift from UCSD
alumnus Joseph Lima '87
made it possible for the
association to begin funding
the new scholarship program
in September 2004. Sue
Hart, Ph.D. '86, a member
of the Alumni Association's
Board of Directors, and
her husband, Steve, M.A.'80,
also were recognized as
inaugural benefactors
of this scholarship program.
Their generous gift will
begin funding two scholars
in the fall of 2005.
The
awards gala is the only
fundraising event dedicated
to supporting the Association's
scholarship programs.
All proceeds from the
event ensure the university's
continued recruitment
of top merit scholars
and commitment to cultivate
future leaders.
Awards
for Excellence 2004 Honor
Roll
McNutt,
this year's Outstanding
Alumna, is the president
and CEO of the Monterey
Bay Aquarium Research
Institute, and the Griswold
Professor of Geophysics
at Stanford University.
McNutt
was recognized for a distinguished
record of accomplishments
in fundamental research,
teaching, service and
scientific leadership.
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Oldest Living
Scripps Alumnus
Awarded Professional
Achievement
Award |
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At
100 years
old, Ancel
Keys is the
oldest living
alumnus of
the century-old
Scripps Institution
of Oceanography.
To recognize
his accomplishments,
Keys was awarded
the Professional
Achievement
Award last
month at his
home in Minneapolis
by Alumni
Association
interim director
Armin Afsahi.
Keys' daughter,
Carrie D'Andrea,
attended the
association's
Awards for
Excellence
Gala on Oct.
23 on behalf
of her father.
"Ancel
Keys is one
of the most
extraordinary
and influential
alumni to
have received
his education
at the University
of California,"
said Charles
F. Kennel,
director of
Scripps. "How
fitting and
poignant for
an alumnus
of Scripps
Institution
of Oceanography,
which celebrated
its centennial
last year,
to receive
this award
during his
own centennial
year."
Although
he studied
fish biology
and physiology
at Scripps,
Keys spent
his career
studying the
physiology
of humans.
During World
War II, he
was commissioned
by the U.S.
government
to study human
performance
while in a
state of nutritional
deficiency
and, as a
result, developed
the emergency
K-rations
--high-calorie,
lightweight
meals to be
used by troops
when no other
food was available.
During the
1950s and
1960s, he
and colleagues
at the Mayo
Clinic and
the University
of Minnesota
defined the
relationship
between the
fat composition
of diet and
serum cholesterol
levels. The
Keys Equation
continues
to be the
best way to
predict the
effects of
diet on blood
cholesterol
levels and
the resulting
risk of coronary
heart disease,
an accomplishment
that earned
him the nickname
"Mr. Cholesterol"
after he was
featured on
a 1961 cover
of Time
magazine.
For the next
two decades,
he conducted
pioneering
studies on
the lifestyles
and diets
of entire
populations
and determined
lifestyle-related
risk factors
for a number
of diseases.
Keys
was born on
January 26,
1904, in Colorado
Springs, Colo.
He received
a B.A. in
economics
and political
science in
1925 and an
M.S. in biology
in 1929, both
from UC Berkeley.
After his
graduation
with a Ph.D.
in oceanography
from Scripps
in 1930, and
the completion
of postdoctoral
fellowships
in Copenhagen
and at Cambridge
University,
he joined
the physiology
faculty at
Harvard University.
Keys earned
a second Ph.D.,
in physiology,
from Cambridge
University
in 1938. In
1939, he joined
the staff
of the Mayo
Clinic and
became assistant
professor
at the University
of Minnesota;
he became
full professor
in 1954 and
emeritus professor
in 1972. The
University
of Minnesota
gave him an
honorary doctorate
in 2001.
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Keys,
the recipient of the Professional
Achievement Award, appeared
on the cover of Time
Magazine in 1961 and dubbed
"Mr. Cholesterol" by the
popular press for discovering
the link between cholesterol
and heart disease. He
was among the first to
apply mathematical regressions
and prediction equations
in human biology. Commissioned
by the government in World
War II to study human
performance during nutritional
deficiency states, he
developed a field ration
that would have a long
shelf life and yet sustain
armies in the field -
the eponymous "K" ration.
Sheldon
Engelhorn '72, received
the Distinguished Service
Award for his ongoing
leadership, creativity
and resources in raising
funds for undergraduate
transfer student scholarships.
Barbara
Sawrey, Ph.D. '84, a current
UCSD professor of chemistry
and biochemistry, was
recognized for Distinguished
Teaching. Sawrey has had
a profound impact on thousands
of students as a model
educator, mentor and campus
administrator.
Each
year, the Alumni Association
also recognizes the top
male and female National
Merit Scholars for academic
achievement and student
leadership. The recipients
of this award for 2004
were Ben Migliori '05
and Melanie Smith '05.
Migliori,
a physics major at Revelle
College, started doing
research in the biology
department as a freshman.
In 2004, he was awarded
the Chancellor's Research
Grant to continue his
work in developing a small
Petri dish allowing researchers
to perform standard biological
assays in minutes and
hours, rather than days.
Smith,
a literature and writing
major at Warren College,
is a talented journalist
and graphic designer,
who has taken an active
leadership role for the
past three years as the
writer and editor of the
Warren Briefs college
newspaper. She is a member
of the Warren Honors Program,
Phi Beta Kappa, the Golden
Key International Society,
the National Society of
Collegiate Scholars and
the Regent's Scholars
Society at UCSD.
For
more information about
the new Alumni Leadership
Scholarship or the annual
Awards for Excellence
Gala, please visit the
UCSD Alumni
Association Web site
or call 858-534-3900.
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