October 15th, 2009: Ed Begley, Jr., actor and environmental activist, spoke to us on Learning to Conserve Resources and Manage an Eco-Conscious Life: A Guide to Sustainable Living.

May 14th, 2009:David Frei, President/CEO of Angels On A Leash, a charity of the Westminster Kennel Club and Director of Communications for the Club, gave his presentation on how dogs have shaped his life and the lives of others, from the magnificent dogs of the Westminster Kennel Club, to the amazing therapy dogs of Angel On A Leash.

April 16th, 2009: Andrea Grossman is the founder of Writers Bloc, a nonprofit literary series dedicated to bringing to Los Angeles our favorite writers and artists, to hear them discuss their ideas, their stories, and their work. The format is a casual conversation, and the goal is mainstream accessibility: nothing stuffy, nothing canned, nothing expensive, as she demonstrated in a conversation with UCLA English Professor and author Eric Jager.

March 12, 2009: The Affiliates featured Joanne Heyler, Director and Chief Curator of the Broad Art Foundation. The Broad (rhymes with "road") Art Foundation is the educational and lending source for an extensive collection of contemporary art. The foundation was formed after several decades of personal collecting and dedicated patronage and leadership of some of the nation's most prominent museums.

February 12th, 2009: The highlight of the Annual Fulbright Dinner was a short recital given by three violinists and their teacher: Hannah Song (8 years old); Esther Kim (15); Sophia Kim (15) and Henry Grennier (piano), who played pieces by Vivaldi, Mendelssohn and Ravel respectively.

They played under the auspices of Eugene Golden, Executive/Artistic Director of The Music Guild, which presents classical music classes in elementary schools and master classes at UCLA, CSULB and CSUN, and provides elementary school children with musical instruments through the Strings for Students and Keyboards for Kids programs.

January 15th, 2009: Since 1995, Los Angeles lawyer (and UCLA alumnus – M.P.A. 1974) John H. Welborne, and a small group of history-minded Angelenos have served on the volunteer Board of Directors of the Angels Flight™ Railway Foundation, the nonprofit organization that took the little funicular back into the private sector after the City of Los Angeles’s 27-year storage of the Railway’s parts (from 1969 to 1996). Welborne, President of the Railway, related to UCLA Affiliates the 107-year (as of December 31, 2008) saga of our iconic Los Angeles landmark, including the trials and tribulations of the Railway’s most recent restoration and reopening in 2009. Photography by Leonard Auslender.

November 3rd, 2008:Jacqueline Cogdeli DjeDje, Professor, Ethnomusicology Chair, twice an award recipient from the National Endowment for the Humanities took us on a musical journey demonstrating the musical links between Africa and African-American music.

October 31st, 2008: Robert Rosen, Critic, Preservationist, Dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television; decorated by the French Government as an Officer of Arts and Letters and awarded the International Documentary Association's Career Achievement Award for Scholarship and Preservation, discusses the American entertainment industry.

“At the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television we believe in nurturing the strengths of individual students by encouraging them to find their own voice, and by giving them the tools they need to make their voices heard.”

May 15th, 2008: Noted speaker and author Robin Williams has done extensive research pointing to the most likely author of all the Shakespearean works to be Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke. She discussed her thesis as described in her award-winning book, Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare?. After hearing her case, presented with great erudition, wit, and humor, the possibility is extremely persuasive and cannot be dismissed out of hand!

April 17th, 2008: Robert Klapper, M.D., Chief of Orthopedic Surgery and Director of Cedar-Sinai's Institute for Joint Replacement, said: "The ultimate paradox is to take a rock and bring it to life." Also a noted sculptor, he observed, "There's a three-dimensional way of looking at marble that is very similar to working with bone."

March 13th, 2008: Elected to a second term on June 10th, 2007, LAPD Police Chief William Bratton spoke about driving initiatives utilizing real-time information to further reduce crime, target gang violence, and mitigate the threat posed by terrorism.

February 20th, 2008: It was our opportunity to meet and greet Dr. Gene Block, our new Chancellor, and join in the discussion of how he's continuing the momentum of making great new things happen at UCLA. At this event, The Affiliates honored the Fulbright scholars from abroad who are spending their year at Southern California locations.

January 17th, 2008: Islamic Art Historian Caroline Williams, who holds degrees from Harvard and the American University in Cairo, unraveled the meaning and spirit of one of the most beautiful (but abstract) manifestations of its culture.

October 11th, 2007: Robert Gurval, Associate Professor, UCLA Department of Classics, a recipient of the Eby Award for Distinguished Teaching (2006), examined the connection of the public ambitions vs. the private passions of Julius Caesar, a very complex man.

May 10th, 2007: This final Luncheon Lecture of the season featured Doctor Edwin C. Krupp, Ph.D '72, Director of Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles.

As a public observatory since May 14, 1935, the Griffith has been the truly iconic Los Angeles lynchpin between earth and sky. Now reopened after a $93 million renovation and expansion, the new Observatory produces what is probably the most technically advanced star show anywhere on earth in its Planetarium Theater. Director of the Griffith since 1974, Dr. Krupp, a 1972 UCLA graduate, took us on a magical virtual visit to the marvels of the newly reborn Observatory and its exhibits. Dr. Krupp is a leading expert on prehistoric astronomy and has written about many ancient astronomical sites, such as Stonehenge, where sky watching was built into its very architecture.

Thursday, April 12th — A treat for gardening fans was a presentation about the Learning Garden, featuring David King, the Garden's Director, who also teaches at UCLA Extension. He brought plants (tomatoes and basil) to place on the luncheon tables for everyone to take home.

The Garden, an innovative project of Venice High School, is one of the many activities of the Learning Center based there.

March 8th, 2007: Dr. Gary Small, director of the UCLA Center on Aging, offered ways to keep brain, body and attitude young and vital well into the 60s, 70s, and beyond. His latest book, The Longevity Bible, provides a practical guide to take control of how one ages, and helps one think, feel, and look younger throughout every stage of life. Copies of the book were made available after the talk.

February 8th, 2007: The Annual Fulbright Dinner

Talented students from UCLA's Department of Theater Arts performed scenes from an assortment of Shakespeare's plays to delight guests at our annual Fulbright Dinner honoring scholars from abroad who are spending their Fulbright stay at various locations in Southern California. The Affiliates have traditionally honored these scholars at our gala annual Fulbright Dinner.

January 11th, 2007: Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, founder and director of UCLA's Center for East West Medicine, has a vision to provide health care that is safe, effective, affordable, and accessible through the integration of the best of Chinese medicine with Western medicine. Dr. Hui told us about the remarkable results which have occurred from this innovative blending of approaches.

October 5th, 2006: A distinguished concert pianist, Judy Huang is a former Affiliates Scholar who has succeeded brilliantly in her professional career both as a soloist with symphony orchestras and as a chamber musician. She performed a special recital as a highlight of our Annual Membership Luncheon.

November 10th, 2005: At our Annual Scholarship Dinner, Affiliates/Elaine Krown Klein Scholar Daniel Rosenboom performed for us. This young trumpet virtuoso has performed at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music; the Walt Disney Concert Hall; and toured through Germany and Japan.

October 11, 2004: ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, commentator, nationally syndicated columnist, and author of Fanatics & Fools: The Game Plan for Winning Back America, shared her thoughts on the 2004 presidential election.

November 9th, 2004: WENDY GREUEL, Los Angeles City Councilmember,one of UCLA's most distinguished and accomplished young alumnae, spoke at our annual Scholarship Dinner. She is watchful of constituent needs, while attending to the much larger issues of good city government.

January 18th, 2005: KIM HUBBARD, Esq., Coordinator, Orange County F.A.S.T. (Financial Abuse Specialist Team). An epidemic of financial crimes afflicts the nation, often targeting the elderly. We (and through us our friends and loved ones) learned how to avoid becoming victims ourselves.

February 15th, 2005: UCLA MUSICAL THEATER STUDENTS performed classic show tunes from some of Broadway's best-loved musicals at our annual Fulbright Dinner. These talented young people will undoubtedly go on to become some of Broadway's shining stars.

Monday, March 21, 2005: GORDON DAVIDSON, Artistic Director and Producer for the illustrious Center Theater Group, which had its beginnings at UCLA in the 1960s, recalled moments and memories of his four decades at the Los Angeles Music Center.

Thursday, April 14th, 2005:Mitchell B. Morris of the UCLA Department of Music, escorted us on a guided journey through one of the most magnificent works in all opera literature. His presentation included recorded excerpts. Der Rosenkavalier (The Rose Cavalier) is a classic comic opera about an elegant but mature beauty whose young lover (the "trouser" role) falls in love with a younger woman. Much, of course, happens — with a good bit of comic farce and mistaken identity.

Thursday, May 12, 2005: Kathryn A. Morgan, Associate Professor of Classics at UCLA and winner of a Distinguished Teaching Award, explained how simple stories of gods and heroes provided meaning and understanding to the ancients on issues of proper (and improper) behavior.

EVAN KLEIMAN, acclaimed chef, cookbook author, radio host, and chef-owner of Los Angeles' beloved Angeli Caffe, escaped for a moment the heat of her amazing kitchen to talk to us about her favorite subject. This UCLA alumna is a leader of the Los Angeles Chapter of "Slow Food USA," an eco-gastronomical/food lover's movement.

FRANK GILLIAM, Jr., UCLA Professor of Political Science and Associate Vice Chancellor for Community Partnerships, discussed UCLA's unique position as a world-class university in a major urban area to effect significant change in the community, through more than 200 programs in health care, economic development, family wellness, and the arts.

ANN KERR, UCLA Fulbright coordinator, whose husband, renowned UCLA political science professor and president of the University of Beirut, was assassinated two decades ago, looked beyond her personal tragedy in water colors she has painted to show the beauty of the Middle East regions with which she has been associated for 50 years. She also discussed her life and experiences there.

DAVID RODES, Director of UCLA's Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts and world-renowned authority on Shakespeare, theater, printmaking, and the Renaissance, discussed visual literacy in that era and showed how Shakespeare and Albrecht Dürer exploited a rich tradition of verbal and visual symbols.

LEON KNOPOFF, world-renowned UCLA professor of geophysics and planetary physics (and research musicologist), enlightened us about the the earth's uneasy crust, the current status of earthquake prediction research — and gave us a glimpse of what lies beneath Los Angeles.

ROBERT S. PYNOOS, M.D., UCLA professor of psychiatry, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Co-Director of the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, has been a consultant to federal, state, and local governments following the tragedies at Oklahoma City, Columbine High School, and New York City and State departments of health post-September 11, in the planning for readiness to catastrophic acts of terrorism. He spoke about dealing with the severe impact of exposure to disaster, especially with reference to children.

Marla Berns, Director of the Fowler Museum of Cultural History: Updated The Affiliates on UCLA's stellar on-campus museum, and her speciality in African Art.

Paul Boyer, Chemistry Nobel Prize Winner: Reported on the Nobel Prize ceremony in Sweden.

James Bruno, Graduate School of Education & Information: Spoke about education in the new world order.

Bebe Moore Campbell, Author: Bebe read from her new novel, What You Owe Me, a story of love and betrayal in 1940s Los Angeles.

Kim Campbell, Consul General and former Prime Minister of Canada: Spoke about the similarities and differences of our two countries.

Albert Carnesale, Chancellor: Shared with The Affiliates his plans for the future of UCLA.

Jared Diamond, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Medal of Science: Renowned author and UCLA physiologist returned from New Guinea to preview his latest discoveries in evolution, ecology and conservation biology.

Christopher Donnan, Archeologist: Shared news of his latest discoveries of Moche tombs in Peru, where he has led archeological digs for 35 years as of this writing (11/03).

Michael S. Dukakis, Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy and Social Research: Former candidate for President of the United States shared his wide experiences in government and teaching.

Gil Garcetti, Former Los Angeles County District Attorney: UCLA Law alumnus spoke on the criminal justice system in the 21st century.

George Grose, President of the Academy for Judaic, Christian and Islamic Studies: Explored the dynamics of dialogue in Global Abraham: Hope in our Time.

Michelle Hamilton, Co-Director of UCLA's Heart Failure Program: The latest developments in heart disease prevention for women.

Judy Huang, Ph.D. candidate in music: Delighted The Affiliates with an outstanding piano performance.

Louis Ignarro, UCLA's winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine: Shared his Nobel journey about the research leading to the development of Viagra.

Timothy Kittelson, Director of the UCLA Film and Television Archive: Enlightened us about the largest university-based film and television collection in the world.

Edward McCabe Chief, UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital: Spoke about the Mattel Children's Hospital and the separation of the Guatemalan Twins.

Jean-Patrice Marandel, Curator of European Paintings and Sculptures at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art: Discussed the Van Gogh exhibit.

Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs/Dean of the Graduate Division: Discussed the status of graduate affairs at UCLA.

Joshua Muldavin, Geography and Co-Chair, International Development Studies: Shared his unique experiences from traveling the globe.

Judy Muller, Emmy-winning ABC correspondent and reporter for NPR's Morning Edition: Delivered an inside look at the backstage drama (and comedy) of the television news business.

Joseph Nagy, Folklore and Mythology: Discussed The Supernatural Lover in Celtic Traditions.

Gary Nash, History: Recipient of UCLA's distinguished Teaching Award and author of the texts The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society and History on Trial.

Ann Philbin, Director of UCLA's Hammer Museum: Charted the ambitious vision for renovating the institution into a great art and cultural center.

Thomas Plate, Former L.A. Times Op-Ed columnist, Founder of UCLA's Asia Pacific Media Network: Discussed the future of U.S. foreign policy after the 2000 election.

Robert Rosen, Dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television: Reported on UCLA's renowned film archives.

Ted Ruiz, Modern European History: Explored the social and political forces behind The Witch Craze that terrorized the late Middle Ages.

Val Rust, Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences: Reported on the dramatic changes in cultures and education in Europe during this historic period.

Carolyn and Lisa See, Distingued mother-daughter writing team: Reminisced about "finding gold in Chinese-American family stories."

Gary Small, Director, UCLA Center on Aging: Previewed his forthcoming book, The Memory Bible: Ten Commandments for Keeping Your Brain Young.

Victoria Steele, Head of the Young Research Library's Department of Special Collections: Spoke about the history of dress.

Joan Waugh, History: Author of Unsentimental Reformer: The Life of Josephine Shaw Lowell, which analyzes the life of a major and controversial figure in charity reform.

Eugen Weber, Historian and Los Angeles Times book reviewer: Presentation on the French Revolution.

Gloria Werner, University Librarian: The role of the library in the electronic age and the library's expansion plans.

2008-09: Kate Geller
2005-07: Glorya Dixon
2003-05: Steven Halpern
2002-03: Abigail Cohen and Carol Sobel
2001-02: Maria Wrigley and Abigail Cohen
1999-01: Helen L. Nefkens
1998-99: Florence Q. Nulsen
1997-98: Beth B. Ludwig and Eileen K. Kramer
1996-97: Mary Erickson
1994-96: Barbara H. Johnson
1993-94: Esther S. McGinnis
1991-93: Catherine Harder
1990-91: Sheena M. Ricchio
1989-90: Karen King Russo
1988-89: Marion W. Gaskill
1987-88: Selma Civiletti
1985-87: Rue Pine
1984-85: Norma Manheim
1983-84: Janice Hamilton
1982-83: Marilouise Zager
1980-82: Betsy Lu Keliher
1978-80: Vera B. Williams
1976-78: Beatrice Mandel
1975-76: Leah Tribe
1974-75: Mrs. Robert Brotchner (Dorothy)
1973-74: Mrs. Herbert Witherspoon (Blanche)
1972-73: Mrs. Chan Thomas (Eleanor)
1971-72: Mrs. Cornelius T. Leondes
1970-71: Mrs. Bettie Minifie
1969-70: Mrs. John D. Morgan (Cynthia)
1968-69: Mrs. John M. Knapp (Marguerite)
1967-68: Mrs. Charles E. Young (Sue)
1966-67: Mrs. Clyde W. Johnson (Carroll)
1965-66: Mrs. George B. Allison (Sandy)
1964-65: Mrs. B. Chase Wanglin (Ann)
1963-64: Mrs. Earnest Fishbaugh (Hortense)
1962-63: Mrs. Charles Speroni (Carmela)
1961-62: Mrs. Robert W. Campbell (Blanche)
1960-61: Mrs. Walter J. Herrman
1959-60: Mrs. Herbert Hilmer
1958-59: Mrs. Willoughby Williams
1957-58: Mrs. L.M.K. Boelter (Helen)
1956-57: Mrs. V. Ridley Meyers
1955-56: Mrs. M. Phillip Davis (Carol)
1954-55: Mrs. John P. McGregor (Georgette)
1953-54: Mrs. Logan H. Keller
1952-53: Mrs. William Paul Cook
1951-52: Mrs. Frank H. Cowgill
1950-51: Mrs. Harold W. Wickstrom
1949-50: Miss Ann Sumner
1948-49: Mrs. W. Thomas Davis (Elizabeth)
1947-48: Mrs. Vern O. Knudsen (Florence)
1945-47: Mrs. Arthur E. Fitzmorris
1944-45: Mrs. Edward A. Dickson (Wilhelmina)
1942-44: Mrs. Charles T. Toney
1940-42: Mrs. George M. Wallace
1938-40: Mrs. Sydney A. Temple
1937-38: Mrs. Benjamin F. Bledsoe