Programs: Alumni Achievement Award
In 1984, the UCSC Alumni Association began honoring alumni who have made outstanding contributions to their field. Recipients are alumni of UC Santa Cruz who have rendered special and outstanding service to UCSC; or who, by personal achievement, have brought distinction to the university. Recipients are honored at the annual Founder's Day gala dinner in October.
2009-10 Recipient
John Rickford (Stevenson ’71, B.A. Linguistics)
John Rickford is Professor of Linguistics and Pritzker University Fellow in Undergraduate Education at Stanford University. Through his scholarly work in sociolinguistics, Rickford has enhanced our understanding of the connections between language, ethnicity, and social class. He received recognition during the Oakland Ebonics controversy of 1996-97, which erupted when the Oakland School Board voted to take into account African American vernacular language ("Ebonics") in their language arts lessons. Rickford has been a dedicated mentor to students; among his former students are a member of the U.S. Congress (Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, CA), faculty at the nation’s top linguistics programs, and many others.
Past Recipients
2008-09 Dana Priest (Merrill ’81, B.A. Politics)
Priest earned her second Pulitzer Prize in April 2008 for a 2007 exposé of the mistreatment of wounded Iraq war veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center—becoming the first UCSC alumna to have twice been awarded journalism's highest honor. Her first Pulitzer was awarded in 2006 for exposing secret U.S. government "black site" prisons, the international transport of alleged terror suspects, and the torture memo that authorized "enhanced interrogation" techniques to obtain intelligence. Ms. Priest has worked at the Washington Post for 20 years.
*Click to see 2008-09 video tribute
2007-08 Gary Heit (Oakes ’77, B.A. Individual major, Psychobiology)
Heit helped develop Deep Brain Stimulation, a treatment for neurological disorders such as chronic pain and Parkinson's disease. He received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA and M.D. from Stanford. He served as assistant professor of neurosurgery and director of functional neurosurgery at Stanford before joining the neurosurgery staff of the Permanente Medical Group of Northern California. He cofounded a medical nonprofit which promotes modern neurosurgical care in developing countries.
*Click to see 2007-08 video tribute
2006-07 Joseph DeRisi (Crown '92, B.A. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Joe DeRisi has been called a "virus detective", a "scientific polymath", and a "rock star of the science world." A UCSF Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, he gained international attention in 2003 when his laboratory deployed its state-of-the-art microarray, or "gene chip," to identify the unique "coronavirus" that caused the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic. DeRisi led the development of the microarray, wrote its software, and even built the robot that imprints it. One of his career goals is to find a cure for malaria; his research may help battle cancer and even the common cold.
2005-06 Cheryl Scott (Oakes '74, B.A. in Biology)
As director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) operations in Tanzania from 2001 to 2005, Cheryl Scott was in the thick of the global battle against AIDS. Nearly 1.5 million Tanzanians, or an estimated 10 percent of the population, were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2003. Under Scott's leadership, CDC-Tanzania assisted the nation's government to improve its national HIV/AIDS surveillance system, strengthen laboratory services, advance blood-transfusion safety, and develop a network of antenatal health centers that target prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission.
2004-05 Roberto Nájera (Merrill '79, B.A. in Sociology)
Nájera, a graduate of Harvard Law School, is the child of a widowed farmworker, and spent much of his childhood picking vegetables on the Monterey coast. Now a Contra Costa County deputy public defender, Nájera was an unlikely choice to argue a case before the Supreme Court, where those who actively represent indigent clients are rarely seen. Despite the fact that he was actively battling colon cancer, Nájera successfully argued that a California law unconstitutionally deprived his client's right to due process, thereby invalidating the law and setting free many individuals who had been unconstitutionally convicted.
2003-04 John Laird (Stevenson '72, B.A. in Politics)
Elected in November 2002, Laird served through 2008 as the California State Assembly member representing the 27th District, which includes Santa Cruz, the coastal Monterey peninsula, Big Sur, and Morgan Hill. Laird had served as mayor and city council member in Santa Cruz and was on the Cabrillo College Board of Trustees. He is a former member of the UCSC Alumni Association Council and for many years worked as a senior administrative analyst for the County of Santa Cruz.
2002-03 Martha Mendoza (Kresge '88, B.A., individual major in Journalism)
Martha Mendoza shared the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for the story about a massacre perpetuated by American troops in the opening weeks of the Korean War. While continuing to report for the Associated Press, Mendoza has returned to UCSC's Writing Program as a journalism lecturer. She is co-author of the book The Bridge at No Gun Ri : A Hidden Nightmare from the Korean War.
2001-02 Victor Davis Hanson (Cowell '75, B.A. in Classic Literature)
Victor Davis Hanson
has attracted scholarly as well as public attention for his provocative perspectives on the demise of the family farm, the humanities and their place in the intellectual health of the nation, military history, and the global role of the United States. Hanson received his Ph.D. in Classics from Stanford University, and has been a professor of Classical Studies in the School of the Arts and Humanities at CSU Fresno for 12 years. He operates his family's raisin farm in the San Joaquin Valley.
2000-01 Katy Roberts (Kresge '74, B.A. in Politics)
Katy Roberts received a bachelor's degree in politics at UC Santa Cruz in 1974, studied Russian language at the University of Toronto, and received an M.A. degree in journalism and Russian area studies from Indiana University in 1977. Named National Editor of The New York Times in November 2000, Roberts had been the newspaper's Op-Ed Page editor since 1995, and had worked in several other positions at The New York Times.
1999-00 Terence Unity Freitas (Crown '97, B.A. Biology and Environmental Studies)
After graduating from UCSC, Freitas became a full-time activist on behalf of the U'wa people of Colombia. The ancestral lands of an indigenous tribe of 5,000 Andean Indians were threatened by Occidental Petroleum's government-backed drilling plans. Freitas travelled to Colombia a half dozen times on behalf of the U'wa. He formed the U'wa Defense Working Group, a coalition of non-governmental organizations. In March 1999, Freitas and two other American activists were murdered while assisting the U'wa with an education project. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, later took responsibility for the crime, blaming a rogue rebel commander. In choosing to honor Freitas, who exemplified "the highest UCSC ideals of service to others," the Alumni Association made its first posthumous award.
1998-99 Brent Constantz, Ph.D. (Graduate Division '86, Earth Sciences)
Brent
Constantz is the founder and former president of Norian Corporation, which produces Norian Skeletal Repair System, a paste that dramatically speeds the healing of broken bones. Norian SRS is on its way to easing pain and facilitating healing for hundreds of thousands of people-- especially those with age-related fractures. Constantz's doctoral dissertation at UCSC, related to the development of corals, was the basis for the product.
1997-98 John Reid (Merrill '78, B.A. Economics)
John Reid is the founder and former executive director of "A Grassroots Aspen Experience," a nonprofit organization in Aspen, Colorado. Reid helped inner-city youth experience an outdoor adventure far from their urban neighborhoods. The outdoor challenges are designed to teach kids how to overcome obstacles.
1996-97 Geoffrey Marcy (Graduate Division: M.A., Astronomy and Astrophysics, '78; Ph.D., '82)
Geoffrey Marcy served as a Distinguished University Professor at San Francisco State University, and is now a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. He is part of a team recognized worldwide for its success in finding planets around stars in other solar systems.
1995-96 Laurie Garrett (Merrill '75, B.A., Biology)
Laurie Garrett won first Pulitzer Prize given to a science writer for her reporting from Zaire on the Ebola virus outbreak (1996). Author of critically acclaimed book titled "The Coming Plague: Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance."
1994-95 John Wilkes (Cowell '67, B.A., Literature; M.A., '69; Ph.D., '73)
Member of UCSC's faculty; founding director of UCSC's nationally renowned Science Communication Program.
1993-94 Michael Woo (Cowell '73, B.A., Politics and Urban Studies; M.A., City Planning, UC Berkeley '75, Institute of Politics Fellow, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, '93)
First Asian American and first trained urban planner to sit on the Los Angeles City Council (1985-93). Narrowly defeated in Los Angeles mayoral race (1993). Unsuccessful candidate for California Secretary of State (1994).
1992-93 Antonio Velasco (Crown '75, B.A., Biology, and M.D., UC Davis '79)
Named 1992 Family Physician of the Year by the California Academy of Family Physicians. Recipient of UC Davis Alumni Association Humanitarian Award, 1991. Co-founder of the Salvadoran Medical Relief Fund. Co-founder of the Natividad Medical Center's Farmworker Pesticide Treatment Clinic in Salinas.
1991-92 Richard Sergay (Merrill '78, B.A., Politics; John S. Knight Fellow, Stanford University, '91-92)
Covered the events that led up to the end of apartheid in South Africa for ABC-TV News as field producer in Southern Africa from 1985 to 1989 and as correspondent and bureau chief for Southern Africa from 1989 to 1991.
1990-91 Patricia Nelson Limerick (Cowell '72, B.A., American Studies; Ph.D., American Studies, Yale University John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award recipient, '95)
Leading revisionist of the history of the American West. Professor of History, University of Colorado, Boulder.
1989-90 Douglas Michels (Porter '76, B.A., Information Sciences)
Douglas Michels pioneered putting the UNIX operating system on desktop computers as the co-founder of Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. (SCO).
1988-89 Art Torres (Stevenson '68, B.A., Politics; J.D., UC Davis)
Art Torres served as the
California Democratic Party Chairman (appointed as acting chairman in February 1996, and elected in April 1996). He served as a California State Senator from 1982-94, and as a California State Assemblyman from 1974-82.
1987-88 Julie Packard (Crown '72, B.A., Biology; M.A. '78)
Julie Packard is the
Vice President and Executive Director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Executive Director of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
1986-87 Kent Nagano (Porter '74, B.A., Music and Sociology)
Kent Nagano is an internationally acclaimed music conductor.
1985-86 Steven Hawley (Graduate Divisio '77, Ph. D., Astronomy and Astrophysics)
Steven Hawley is a
NASA astronaut.
1984-85 Kathryn Sullivan (Cowell '73, B.S., Earth Sciences; Ph.D., Geology, Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Sullivan is a
NASA astronaut and first American woman to walk in space.
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