A computer science doctoral student, a graduate counselor and a professor of ethnomusicology were among the 10 diverse people the Graduate Students Association honored Tuesday.
The GSA presented its annual Jeffrey L. Hanson Distinguished Service Award to five students: Amy Adrion, Jared Fox, Nurit Katz, Hoi Ning Ngai and Erica Saenz.
Its annual James Lu Valle Distinguished Service Award was also presented to five members of the faculty, staff or administration: Albert Aubin, Anthony Leadholm, Jan Paley, professor of information studies John Richardson, and ethnomusicology professor Roger Savage.
The recipients were honored for their dedication to the interests of graduate and professional students at UCLA.
Fox, a former GSA president, said the GSA officers choose the award winners from the nominations they receive from graduate students. He said though the number of nominations varies from year to year, the GSA based their decision this year on about a dozen submissions that multiple students can endorse.
Adrion, a master of fine arts candidate in film directing, was honored for her work as GSA cabinet director of Melnitz Movies.
“Amy has overseen easily the most entertaining and challenging series of events that I have seen since I started going regularly to Melnitz Movies three years ago,” said GSA President Monica Sanchez, relaying a nominator’s evaluation.
Another student recipient, Katz, was honored in part for her work as director of the UCLA Sustainable Resource Center.
“When she started as director, she reformed the old Environmental Coalition on her own initiative and significantly increased its effectiveness for graduate students,” said Sanchez as she read another nominator’s assessment.
Katz is also set to take over as GSA president next year.
“I just want to thank you all so much for the honor, and all the work you do,” Katz said as she addressed the GSA.
Sanchez also said the student support for Lu Valle Award recipient Leadholm, a graduate counselor and admissions coordinator in the department of chemistry and biochemistry, was immense.
“(Leadholm’s) nomination for this award was overwhelmingly endorsed by the students in his department, with more than 90 students providing signatures on his nomination form to express their support,” Sanchez said.
Leadholm has taken on a job formerly done by three people, and will continue to hold his position for as long as he is needed, she said.
“The students report that (Leadholm’s) friendly attitude of service and desire (has helped) save them from fighting the endless bureaucracy that would otherwise take time away from their research and coursework,” Sanchez said.
Leadholm said these rules and regulations are the reason he feels compelled to help graduate students.
“Oftentimes it’s easy to get caught up in the bureaucracy that is UCLA. It’s students like mine that make it all worthwhile,” he said.
Sanchez said Aubin’s nominators spoke passionately of him and his service in his many roles on campus.
“As one of his nominators said, Al Aubin has no boundaries when it comes to being a voice on behalf of those who don’t have one. … His commitment to UCLA has made this campus a safe and progressive place to learn, to work and to find community,” she said.
Richardson, a professor and associate dean of the graduate division, was recognized for his commitment and service to graduate students, especially through his support for the Graduate Writing Center.
He expressed his ideas on the administration’s role with regard to the GSA’s interests.
“I genuinely believe that the administration should exist to serve the needs of graduate students,” he said.