The UCSD Alumni Association Announces Top Award Recipients
Awardees to be honored at June reception
By Mary Johnson | March 13, 2006
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| 2004 Distinguished Services Award recipient Sheldon Engelhorn, '72, with Alumni Association Board President Henry DeVries, '79. |
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An internationally acclaimed science fiction author and the co-founder of Street Tech, a nationally recognized organization that offers computer-related employment to low income communities, have been named by the UCSD Alumni Association as the top recipients of the 28th annual Awards for Excellence distinctions to be presented on Saturday, June 3, 2006.
Paul Lamb, MPIA ’95, this year’s Outstanding Alumnus, is a community activist and a former student leader of the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) at UCSD. Currently a Zero Divide fellow with the Community Technology Foundation of California, he is working with other fellows to develop a “digital divide policy road map” for the state of California.
In 1999, he combined his non-profit and for-profit skills with his longtime work with at-risk youth and co-founded Street Tech, an organization that transforms lives by offering technology training, career and personal development assistance and computer-related employment to low income communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Street Tech, the winner of the 2002 California Governor’s Technology Innovation Awards, has become a nationally recognized blueprint for workforce development and community building.
The Outstanding Alumnus of the Year distinction recognizes a graduate of UCSD who has rendered special or outstanding service, or, through personal achievements, brought honor and distinction to the University. Lamb’s accomplishments and programs reflect cultural competence and sensitivity – the hallmarks of IR/PS and the entire UCSD community.
Kim Stanley Robinson, ’72, Ph.D. ’82, recipient of the Professional Achievement Award is an internationally acclaimed science fiction author/storyteller who has taken the genre to a new level of literary and philosophical inquiry with his epic novels.
Robinson has been the recipient of the highest awards for science fiction. These include the Nebula Award, two Hugo Awards, the Alex Award of the American Library Association, and a number of international awards from juries in the United Kingdom, Spain and Japan. From 1999 to 2000, he was the Regents Lecturer in the Department of Literature at UCSD.
The Professional Achievement Award is awarded to an alumnus of an undergraduate or graduate program of UCSD, with an established record of accomplishments, complemented by significant contributions to a profession. Robinson is a writer working in his craft and successful at the highest level.
Other recipients to be honored at the June awards reception include Marco Thompson, ’79, selected to receive the Distinguished Service Award for his ongoing leadership and support of UCSD, including the Jacobs School of Engineering, the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), as well as the San Diego business community.
Honored as the Outstanding Alumnus of the Jacobs School of Engineering in 2003, Thompson started Doctor Design, and today, though semi-retired, is a visible booster for San Diego as the “intellectual property capital of the wireless and telecom world.”
William Arctander “Billy” O’Brien, Professor of Literature, will be recognized for Distinguished Teaching. An exceptionally popular teacher at UCSD, O’Brien has maintained a reputation across campus as a phenomenally effective teacher who is both rigorous and beloved among students. He is known to challenge students to think for themselves, their education, and the world they live in. Beyond the department, O’Brien has a standing commitment to undergraduate education in the Colleges and is a frequently requested commencement speaker.
Irwin Jacobs, co-founder and chairman of Qualcomm Inc., will be honored as Honorary Alumnus. The UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering, founded in 1982, is consistently counted among the top 10 engineering schools in the nation. His impact on UCSD will resonate for decades to come as one of the country’s leading academic success stories.
Jacobs has served UCSD in several leadership capacities for over twenty years. In addition to funding the Jacobs Chair in Information and Computer Science, Irwin has served as a member of the UCSD Foundation and the UCSD Green Foundation. He has been an active member in the greater San Diego community serving on boards of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the MIT Enterprise Forum, the Jewish Community Center of San Diego, and the San Diego Repertory Theatre.
On June 3, 2006, the UCSD Alumni Association will host the 28th annual Awards for Excellence to recognize outstanding alumni, student scholars and community leaders at Institute of the Americas at UCSD. All funds generated from the event will benefit the Alumni Association Scholarship Program.
Additional information, sponsorship opportunities and registration information are available on the UCSD Alumni Association website at www.alumni.ucsd.edu/awards or by calling 858-534-3900.
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