Category Archives: Uncategorized

UCLA alumni, faculty, staff and students gathered at Los Angeles City Hall to celebrate the UCLA Centennial and honor community members and elected officials. (photos by Reed Hutchinson/UCLA)

The annual advocacy day became ‘UCLA Day’ in Los Angeles as part of the school’s centennial

Los Angeles and UCLA have been civically intertwined for decades — a commitment to public service realized through the numerous alumni serving in city hall and the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, and the faculty, researchers and community members seeking to improve the city year after year.

In its 100-year history, UCLA produced the city’s first African-American mayor, Tom Bradley, and the first female president of the Los Angeles City Council, Peggy Stevenson.

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UCLA alumni, students and staff visited Sacramento to commemorate the Centennial and advocate to the legislature. (photo by Jonathan Van Dyke)

As UCLA leaders, students and alumni met with members of the California State Assembly and Senate, the school’s story was coming full circle from a century ago.

“[It’s amazing] what you’ve been able to accomplish in just 100 years — and I have to say, you look great,” Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove said as she introduced a resolution to acknowledge the UCLA Centennial. “But to be a world-class university — the cherry on top is that this is a public university.”

On May 20, 17 members of the assembly and senate spoke on behalf of UCLA, as each chamber honored the legacy of one of the state’s prized academic institutions. Ninety-two alumni have served in the California legislature, which ratified the California Branch State Normal School — from which UCLA would emerge — a century ago. Later that evening, Sacramento alumni, community members and elected officials gathered at the Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park.

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The congressman highlighted need to invest in education during UCLA’s Winston C. Doby Lecture. Original story on UCLA Newsroom.

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu came from Taiwan to the United States with his family when he was 3 years old. And since then, he has tried to champion the ideals that propelled him and his family to success.

“In my mind, [my parents] achieved the American dream,” the California Democrat told the crowd as he delivered the UCLA Academic Advancement Project’s Winston C. Doby Distinguished Lecture. “They went from being poor, to owning a home, to giving my brother and I an amazing education.”

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Undergraduates also met with alumni to get a behind-the-scenes look at how the nation’s capital works. Original story on UCLA Newsroom.

Vanessa Gaytan isn’t trying to spend her time at UCLA with blinders on, but she, like many students, can sometimes find herself stuck in a silo of her academic track and ambitions.

“I’m in my own clubs and organizations, and it’s hard to meet people out of that with our busy schedules,” said Gaytan, a third year psychology major looking to add applied linguistics to her studies. She is a member of the UCLA Academic Advancement Program, Alpha Gamma Delta sorority and the Program for Excellence in Education and Research in the Sciences.

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Jennifer Poulakidas

Following a nationwide search, Jennifer Poulakidas has been named associate vice chancellor for government and community relations. Poulakidas, a UCLA alumna, will begin this role April 1.

“I am excited to have Jennifer leading the government and community relations program, and am confident that her extensive advocacy experience makes her a great addition to our team,” said Rhea Turteltaub, UCLA vice chancellor for external affairs, which oversees government and community relations.

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UCLA professors were a part of a special panel on quantum computing that was held at the House Science Committee Briefing Room in Washington, D.C.

To think of quantum computing is to think of solving problems that today’s computers wouldn’t be able to finish in a lifetime, or, perhaps, even a lifetime of an entire universe.

It is with that promise of scale, that UCLA researchers hosted a panel in Washington, D.C., to answer questions as the federal government grapples with how to keep up with this fast moving research.

On Sept. 25, the Quantum Computing: Exploring the Information Revolution panel discussion was held in the House Science Committee Briefing Room, where the panelists explored the current state of quantum computing technology along with potential opportunities for the field from the perspective of academic and industry leaders.

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