Friday, January 19, 2024

                    FWC's 4TH GENERAL MEETING with featured speaker 

                      DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR NEIL K. GARG

Professor Neil K. Garg discussed his teaching and research career at our Fourth General Meeting on April 16th 2024. He is the inaugural holder of the Kenneth N. Trueblood Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry. He also served as Faculty-in-Residence in the UCLA undergraduate community for nine years. He is a co-founder of his start-up company ElectraTect, designed to develop technology for the drug testing industry, specifically targeting fairness in detecting consumption of THC.

More details about Professor Garg's academic achievements, his service to the UCLA community, and his background, are all published on the title page of FWC's newsletter UPDATE, April-June 2024 issue. 


From left: Marianne Afifi, Past President (FWC)
Ayesha Dixon, VP Programs, and Professor Garg
Photo credits: Karen McClain

The 4th General Meeting was our business meeting. The following officers were elected for 2024-25


Anne-Marie Spataru President

  Renee Fortier President Elect

      Helene DesRuisseaux VP Programs

         Rochelle Caballero  VP Sections

            Katie Lee Corresponding Secretary

                Dorota Dabrowska  Recording Secretary

                   Jane Permaul  Treasurer

                      Velma Montoya  Historian/Archivist 

                                                                Congratulations to All


WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR, GOOD HEALTH, HAPPINESS, and FUN

As of this morning in the Daily Bruin, February 16, 2024, under ARTS, we read great news about one of our FWC "scholars," a recipient of the 2014 FWC Scholarship, India Carney https://dailybruin.com/2024/02/15/qa-alumnus-india-carney-talks-passion-for-arts-education-upcoming-event-at-the-nimoy

          I took a photo of India 10 years ago when she was a recipient of the FWC Scholarship:

India Carney in 2014 at the FWC Scholarship Dinner
photo credit: Zorana Ercegovac

India Carney is celebrating Young Artists at NIMOY. She is the singer, songwriter and producer's two-night "Riding the Rollercoaster: An Artist's Life in Los Angeles."

Many among our FWC scholarship recipients have had successful and productive careers. 

Again, we start off the New Year with our annual Scholarship Dinner (February 6, 2024) and with another group of UCLA students who are awarded the Scholarship (see the group photo below).


Dr. Victoria L. Sork holds two distinguished professorships: in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and the other in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

More details about Professor Sork are given on the title page of FWC's UPDATE, Jan-Mar 2024.

We will honor eleven FWC Scholars. I will update this BLOG, so visit us soon to see the group photo and more. UPDATE (Jan-Mar 2024, pages 2-3) gives short bios of each of the eleven Scholars.

In preparation for the Dr. Sork presentation, you can learn more about the UCLA BOTANICAL GARDEN, a 7.5 acre public garden on the UCLA campus, right here. Learn how to design your own sustainable garden, learn about their "open air" classrooms, research, and vast collections. During the Covid isolation era, I used to spend hours in the garden watching the plants, trees, blooms, fish and turtles in the stream flowing through the garden.

Here is a group photo of FWC SCHOLARS 2024. 

From left: Our featured speaker Prof. Victoria L. Sorkin, 10 awardees 
and Marianne Afifi, Scholarship Committee Co-chair
Scholars: Vanessa, Naomi, Paula, Deja, Ginger Rose, Alyssa, Emerald, Lanxin, Edgar
Dr. Kele Kirschenbaum, Scholarship Committee Co-chair

The event was well attended inspite of a heavy rainfall. We enjoyed seeing old friends with their guests and meeting the FWC 2024 scholars. 

Our own FWC member and past President Margaret Churchill with
her husband and grandson, visiting them from Sweden.
Naomi Hammonds, a 4th year student majoring in psychobiology, joined them

The event offered the unique opportunity for the student scholars
majoring in different areas to network

Lanxin is in the School of Public Health; Alyssa is the School of Engineering and Applied Science;

Edgar and Naomi are pursuing a degree in psychobiology, and Ginger Rose is a prolific harpist.

Wei Chen, our featured artist, performing on GuZheng
ti be held on April 17th at 12 noon


Music Section in Cultural Contexts, chaired by Zorana Ercegovac, is one among the first in-person 
SING-A-LONG sessions, performed in November 2023 at the home of Jarka and Tom Wilcox. 
We have invited members from other FWC sections to join in, including play-readers, hikers, and guests.

AT-A-GLANCE: Mark your calendars

Wednesday, February 21st at 12:30 PM via zoom -- there will be a special presentation on a theme of 

SOUND <-> IMAGE <-> POETRY

with guests reading selected poems by William Blake, and much more. 

STAY TUNED.