2011 Founders Celebration Honorees
-
Foundation Medal
Recognizes individuals of exceptionally distinguished achievement whose work and contribution to society illustrate the ideals and vision of UC Santa Cruz.
Arthur D. Levinson
Arthur D. Levinson is the chairman and former CEO of Genentech. He began working at Genentech in 1980 after holding a postdoctoral position with J. Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus in the Department of Microbiology at the University of California, San Francisco.
Following Genentech’s $47 billion merger with Swiss drug maker Roche in 2009, Levinson left day-to-day operations and is leading Genentech’s new board of directors and steering the integration of the company into Roche.
J. Michael Bishop
J. Michael Bishop is an American cancer scientist who received the 1989 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine along with his colleague Harold Varmus. He is a University Professor and Chancellor Emeritus at UCSF.
Working together in the 1980s, Bishop and Varmus demonstrated for the first time that normal genes can be converted into cancer genes. Their findings opened a path to understanding how cancer arises and how it might better be controlled.
-
Fiat Lux Award
Presented by the UC Santa Cruz Foundation to alumni and friends who have demonstrated outstanding achievement, dedication, and service in support of the University’s programs and goals.
Hal Hyde
Hal Hyde is a central figure in the founding of UC Santa Cruz. After serving on a committee helping the University of California select a Central Coast location for a new campus, Hyde became UCSC’s first vice chancellor of business and finance. He held the position from 1964 to 1975.
Hyde oversaw creation of UCSC’s infrastructure, including the siting of campus roads and construction of the first colleges, residence halls, and administrative buildings.
He also served as the first president of the Arboretum Associates and as a trustee of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation.
-
Alumni Achievement Award
Presented by the UCSC Alumni Association to alumni who have rendered outstanding service to the campus, or who, through their achievement, have brought distinction to the University.
Julia Sweig
Julia Sweig (Porter ‘86, Latin American studies) is an internationally recognized authority on Latin America and U.S. foreign policy, especially with respect to Cuba.
An award-winning historian and prolific writer, Sweig’s most recent book is Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know. Her writing also appears in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, and a host of international publications.
She is researching a political biography about the people behind Brazil’s new global footprint.
-
Faculty Research Lecturer
The foremost academic research honor bestowed by the Santa Cruz Division of the Academic Senate is awarded annually to a faculty member who has a distinguished record in research.
Steven Vogt
Steven Vogt, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, has designed, built, and used high-precision spectrometers to find new worlds outside our solar system during his 33 years with UCSC.
In 2010, Vogt and a team of planet hunters announced the discovery of an Earth-sized planet orbiting a nearby star at a distance that placed it squarely in the middle of the star’s “habitable zone,” where liquid water could exist on the planet’s surface. Further observations are needed to confirm the discovery, which remains controversial.
