UCLA Alumni Association to celebrate distinguished Bruins
Friends and SupportersBenefactors and lifelong friends of UCLA, a judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court and a cardiologist are among the Bruins being honored by the UCLA Alumni Association for their achievements, leadership and community service.
The UCLA Awards ceremony will be held virtually on May 22, and it is open to all alumni, staff and members of the Bruin community.
“Capping off hundreds of alumni events each year are the UCLA Awards in the spring,” said Julie Sina, UCLA’s associate vice chancellor for alumni affairs. “A perfect time to celebrate our amazing alumni leaders, the UCLA Awards bring such joy and pride to our entire UCLA community. The alumni and network organizations we honor spotlight UCLA’s world-class impact and contributions to societies around the globe.”
The Edward A. Dickson Alumni of the Year will be presented to Meyer and Renee Luskin, who have helped shaped UCLA for nine decades. Their contributions include a generous gift to UCLA’s school of public affairs, which was officially named the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin School of Public Affairs in 2011, and the establishment of the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy and the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. The UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center, which opened in 2016 in the heart of campus, provides a space for people to come together and explore new ideas. In 2015, Meyer Luskin established a legal ethics program at the UCLA School of Law. And in 2011, the Luskins created the Luskin Lecture for Thought Leadership, a lecture series to share knowledge and foster dialogue among scholars, leaders in government and business, and the greater Los Angeles community. Their scholarship and generosity have benefitted students, families, communities and institutions.
Meyer Luskin attended UCLA on a scholarship and earned his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1949, after a break for military service during World War II. Renee Luskin earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1953. The Luskins received the UCLA Medal, the university’s highest honor, in 2019. At the reception, held at the conference center bearing their names, Chancellor Gene Block said, “What drives Meyer and Renee is precisely what drives UCLA: a desire to solve society’s biggest challenges and to create opportunity for all through education and research.”