The Policy Design and Evaluation Lab (PDEL), based at the University of California, San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS), announced today that it is a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. PDEL faculty affiliates Claire Adida, assistant professor of political science in the UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences, and Jennifer Burney, assistant professor at GPS, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project titled “Mobile Money, Schooling, and the Poor.”
Some 8,364 graduating students of the University of California, San Diego will gather to hear commencement speeches from dynamic speakers such as alumnus J. Craig Venter, a biochemist, geneticist and entrepreneur; Frank Bruni, New York Times op-ed columnist; alumnus Dan Santat, author and illustrator; and Christina Figueres, United Nations Executive Secretary. The students will participate in the campus’s 11 commencement events, with the majority of ceremonies taking place June 13-14, preceded by the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences May 16 and the School of Medicine’s June 7 graduation.
UC San Diego’s Department of Music, founded by composers over 40 years ago, spans the spectrum from classical to contemporary, including jazz, Hindustani, computer and experimental music. The Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, located in the heart of campus, is recognized as one of the greatest small concert halls in the world. The music department’s distinguished faculty have earned Pulitzer, Guggenheim, MacArthur and Grawemeyer awards. And, now, the department, under the Division of Arts and Humanities, also has key tools universities use in recruiting and retaining outstanding scholars: endowed faculty chairs.
Distinguished alumni of the University of California, San Diego including filmmaker and animator Mike Judge, as well as all three members of the YouTube sensation, Wong Fu Productions will be recognized during the campus’s annual Alumni Weekend, June 4-7. Also honored will be San Diego Unified School District superintendent Cindy Marten and founder of Realty Changers Christopher Yanov, among others.
UC San Diego graduate student Mandy Nussbaum is living a dream – serving as a valued member of the stage management team for the current La Jolla Playhouse production of Come From Away, a world premiere musical.
Steven Schick, a percussionist, conductor, author and distinguished professor of music at UC San Diego, is known for charging into new frontiers of contemporary music. As a soloist and director, he has performed with and led numerous local and international ensembles. In support of his teaching, research and service activities, Schick has been appointed the inaugural holder of the Reed Family Presidential Chair in the Division of Arts and Humanities.
