THE OMNIPRESENCE of Nikola TESLA'S Work and Ideas

 UCLA's Faculty Women's Club 2nd General Meeting was held on November 15th 2022 at the Faculty Club. The featured speaker was Distinguished Professor Milos Ercegovac. Thee topic was about Tesla's Work and his Ideas.

The Meeting was well attended and followed by a lively discussion. 

Distinguished Professor Milos Ercegovac at the podium
FWC General Meeting #2 November 15, 2022

Tesla's unique way of problem solving was explained:
MENTAL VISUALIZATION before the experimental lab work

 

UCLA's Faculty Women's Club celebrates our new beginning

 Welcome back to our traditional in-person One hundred-and-Fourth (104) Season!

We start off with the General Meeting, on October 2022, with a presentation by Liza Bercovici, our Woman of Distinction 2022

Join us for the live performance of the HINDUSTAN CLASSICAL SITAR concert on October 19th. The event will be held at the SHERIE LOUNGE & BAR venue, at the UCLA's Faculty Club. This event celebrates the first decade of the MUSIC IN CULTURAL CONTEXT Section. 

Professor RAHUL  NEUMAN

Our Book Section met on October 11, 2022 to discuss THE MANNINGTREE WITCHES (2021) by A. K. Blakemore. The book opened up interesting questions related to historical perspectives of witch-hunting, as well as a broader set of feminist theory ideas.

From left: Marjorie Friedlander (zoomer); Zorana Ercegovac (leads discussion); Barbara Crandall;
Middle row: Rochelle Caballero; Joy Frank; Simone King;
Bottom row: Lorraine Young; Amelita Fronsdal; Norma Stein

UCLA's HAMMER Museum has opened its doors in the Fall of 2022 with exciting exhibits featuring JOAN DIDION: What She Means; PICASSO Cut Papers; and a retrospective of the painter BOB THOMPSON. 

Special Interest Group leaders, aka FWC SECTIONS, met in September at the home of Patti Nagy.

Photo credit: Zorana Ercegovac (not in the phot), Founder and Chair of Music in Cultural Contexts

From left to right:
Diane Childs (German); Melissa Ward (Hiking); Rochelle Caballero (Play reading);
Marianne Afifi & Dianne Homsher (International Cooking); Sandy Spolsky (Birthdays);
Jarka Wilcox & Mary Ann Sherritt (Bridge); Marjorie Friedlander (Writing); Virginia Rossy (French)
Patti Nagy and Debby Wagger are Section VPs.




 

Sixth General Meeting and Spring Luncheon 2022 features Prof. Alice Shapley

Professor Alice Shapley, with the UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy, was our featured speaker at the Spring Luncheon 2022. The annual gathering was held at the newly renovated UCLA's Faculty Club. Prof. Shapley showed us how the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will advance our knowledge of the formation of the first galaxies.

Prof. Alice Shapley spoke about the James Webb Space Telescope developed
by NASA in collaboration with the European Space Agency.
JWST was designed to mainly conduct infrared astronomy
Photo credit: Zorana

Exploring research themes such as What will JWST learn from infrared light?
The Importance of O2 in our galaxy, the Milky Way, in distant galaxies;
How can we go back in time and figure out how galaxies formed
Photo credit: Zorana

The Spring Luncheon celebrated our 2022 Outstanding Member, Patti Nagy, for her nearly 50 years contribution to the Faculty Women's Club.

Patti Nagy honored as the 2022 FWC Outstanding Member
President Helene Desruisseaux presents the Award to Patti
Photo credit: Anne-Marie

2022 FWC FIREPLACE FUND Donors in front of the Main Dining Room Fireplace
From left: Marilyn, Dagmar, Debby, Maria, Rochelle, Patti, Helene, Marianne,
Anne-Marie, Eva, Zorana, Dianne, Jo, Simone, Shirley, Estellaleigh, Jane
Photo credit: Caroline

Finally, FWC past presidents are presented with a beautiful ROSE for their leadership contribution !

From left: Bette, Jo, Marjorie, Rochelle, Zorana, Sandy, Patti, Sunny, Mary Ann, Eva
Photo credit: Velma Montoya

Glorya Dixon, 80th FWC President, 2002-2003, was in attendance. Dixon must have been positioned on either side of this distinguished group, and has not been included in the photo above. Here is the photo of Glorya when she participated in the FWC Oral History Project in 2013 (while Zorana Ercegovac was FWC 90th President). I took a portrait photo of Glorya in the Spring of 2013. Glorya is an active participant in our Music in Cultural Contexts Section. We celebrated her 90th birthday in January of 2022. She is FWC oldest Past President. 

Glorya Dixon, as photographed in the Spring of 2013
at the UCLA's Faculty Center
Photo credits: Zorana Ercegovac

Per our tradition, yellow roses were presented to each of the FWC past presidents
who attended the May 2022 Spring Luncheon
at the newly renovated Faculty CLUB

A few recent photos of our FWC Members as participants in Special Interest Sections

So much has happened over the COVID-19 era around the world. However, many among our FWC Special Interest Sections have continued to enjoy the work we love through our generous hostesses. Examples include ROCHELLE (e.g., hostess for online Play-Readers and Music in Cultural Contexts Sections; MARJORIE for the Book Section; MARIANNE for the International Cooking Section). Without their dedication, our sections would not have been so vibrant, engaging, and fun.

December 2021 Holiday Celebration, with our regulars and special guests.
Each attendee has his/her own way to toast and cheer for a better year ahead.
MUSIC in CULTURAL CONTEXTS Section

Marjorie hosts the BOOK SECTION (November 2020).
The book discussed at this particular meeting was "All for nothing"
by Walter Kempowski (2015), describing the bitter cold winter of 1945
in East Prussia as the Red Army was advancing and the collapse of the Ost front.

Melissa Ward, Marjorie Freidlander, Simone King, Bong Nae Bodiford, Michele Wittig, Jarka Wilcox.
Date April 15, 2022, Sullivan Fire Road/Murphy Ranch

Melissa and Marjorie co-chair the HIKING Section. The group meets every Friday at 8:30 AM. The hikers have explored a number of local trails, many with beautiful plants and great views. Occasionally they walk on the beach or on city streets, visiting special neighborhoods and other place of interest.

Section Chairs are honored with a SPECIAL ROSE for dedicated and smart work.
This photo is taken in the Faculty Center during the pre-COVID-19 era (Spring GM, 2018).
We all know who we are and which section(s) we chair.

WISHING YOU ALL HAPPY and HEALTHY SPRING HOLIDAYS 

Our Fifth General Meeting was held on April 5, 2022. The invited speaker, Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, had to cancel on short notice due to duties in Sacramento. We are reposting a brief biographical sketch about the Assemblymember below. 

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan was invited to join us as the featured speaker

The May General Meeting hosted 2021-2022 FWC Scholars. Mr Bryan's field representative Michelle Persoff presented each recipient with a certificate of congratulations on behalf of the Assemblymember Bryan. Since there was no featured talk, it presented an added opportunity for the FWC awardees to interact with the audience, and answer questions about their work and aspirations.

FWC Scholarship Committee has selected 9 undergraduate students and 2 graduates who are FWC 2021-2022 Scholars. Here are just a few of these outstanding young students who study various interdisciplinary topics, including Human Biology and Society (Olivia Bielskis), Film and Television Production / Cognitive Science (Charlotte Oxley), and Civil Engineering / Earthquake Engineering (Vivian Vela).

A complete list of 2021-2022 FWC Scholars is published in FWC UPDATE, April 2022.

Here is a group photo of the FWC Scholarship 2022 recipients. There is a subset of 2021 students recipients who were able to attend on April 5, 2022.

Photo credit: Estellaleigh Franenberg, taken on April 5th 2022 at the
James West Alumni Center, UCLA.

The following bios are just a sample of 11 Scholars who have been selected as the recipients in 2021-2022. CONGRATULATIONS!

Finally, there was a change in the choice of the venue. Due to the delay in opening of the UCLA's Faculty Club, the event took place in the UCLA's James West Alumni Center. This was our first in-person general meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in December of 2019, and our first in-person Scholarship General Meeting since February of 2020. The event gathered about 65 attendees.

FWC 4th General Webinar was held on March 15, 2022. The topic was on the Robinson Gardens in Beverly Hills, presented by Patricia Reinstein, Kerstin Royce, and Leslie Kavanaugh. The Garden was built in 1911, and given to Los Angeles County in 1977, just before her 100th birthday.

The mansion and exotic gardens are now on the National Registry of Historic Places and open to the public by appointment.

Virginia Robinson Gardens, built in 1911

Wishing you a HAPPY, HEALTHY, and PRODUCTIVE New Year 2022

Faculty Women's Club Third General Meeting was held virtually, aka General Meeting Webinar, on January 18th 2022. The Meeting welcomed the featured speakers Dana Perel Katz and Jo Sornborger. They presented their work UCLA Health's Operation Mend outlined in the FWC UPDATE.

From FWC UPDATE Jan/Feb 2022, front page

The Operation Mend organization provides FREE comprehensive surgical, medical, and psychological health care services for post-9/11 era service members, veterans, and their families.

The main program of the General Meeting webinar also included Jo Knopoff and Julie Kwan 

Top row: Jo Sornborger is executive director and clinical director of the OPERATION MEND
Dana Perel Katz directs Community Engagement and Buddy Programs
Bottom row: Anne-Marie Spataru is FWC VP for General Meeting Programs

After the main program, Jo Knopoff presented a brief historical connection between the UCLA's Faculty Women's Club and the Faculty Club from the inception of The Club. 

Finally, Julie Kwan, Past President on the Board of Governors, briefed the attendees on the Faculty Club fundraising opportunities, major changes regarding FC's patios, landscaping, renovations of Morrison Room (formerly California Room), Main Dining Room, Cypress Bar & Lounge, and other spaces and staff offices. 

FWC leadership has approved funding drive for one fireplace, so that when the renovated Faculty Club opens its doors in Spring of 2022, the place will be proud to welcome old and new members!

FWC Sitting President Helene DesRuisseaux and Jo Knopoff
Julie Kwan, Past President on the Faculty Club Board of Governors

There is a new name of the Faculty Center. It is official -- from now on, it is UCLA Faculty Club

UCLA Faculty Club Floor Plan

The floor plan gives locations of the three fireplaces: the main Dining Room; the Morrison Room (formerly California Room); and the Cypress Bar & Lounge (lower level of the Faculty Club).

Our next GM Webinar and Business Meeting is scheduled for March 15, 2022. STAY WELL