News
News
Portraits of Excellence
Each year, the UCLA College of Letters and Science honors six students as winners of the Charles E. and Sue K. Young Student Awards -- honors made possible through the support of Louis and Evelyn Blau. Here is a look at this year's winners -- superb young scholars who are recognized for their superb talent, commitment, and achievement.
Senior, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Seeking answers and treatments for inherited diseases
While many undergraduates dream of one day becoming medical researchers who can cure or tame disease, Tom Clarke is already well on his way toward realizing that ambition. A Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Scholar, Clarke is working in the laboratory of Assistant Physiology Professor Rachelle Crosbie. There, Clarke has helped with research on the genetic disorder of ciliary dyskinesia, which causes respiratory illnesses and infertility; and on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which usually results in death by the late teens.
"My research work has been the most exciting experience of my collegiate career, and has reinforced my decision to use the science of medicine as a physician to develop novel therapeutic tools for treating inherited human diseases," said Clarke, who is praised by faculty members for his incisive questions and graduate-quality work.
Clarke has been active at UCLA outside the lab as well. At the Medical Center, he helps transport patients throughout the hospital, has served as a counselor and coach for the UCLA Basketball Camp, and participated in a textbook drive, Hurricane Katrina relief, and Santa Monica beach clean-up as a member of Mortarboard Senior Honor Society.
Senior, Linguistics
Using mathematics to analyze language structure
Coming from a bi-cultural family and a high school that taught Armenian language and culture, and learning some French and Turkish, all have helped Hrayr Khanjian appreciate language and linguistics. At UCLA, he has combined that background with his research interests and other skills. A former mathematics major who works part time as a math tutor, Khanjian is applying mathematical techniques used by Linguistics Professors Edward Keenan and Edward Stabler to the study of grammatical structures in Central West Greenlandic, a dialect of Greenlandic Eskimo.
"I like how languages have multiple levels of structure that are not immediately evident," said Khanjian, who plans to attend graduate school in linguistics at MIT next year. "There are tiers of structure in intonation, sound, word, phrase, sentence, and meaning that are similar across languages, and that are very rule-governed."
Described by faculty members as having outstanding academic skills, intellectual curiosity, and leadership potential, Khanjian also has been active in UCLA's Armenian Student Association. After graduate school, he plans to go into academia, researching the sound patterns of the Armenian language, which he says are very underrepresented in linguistics literature.
Mathematics
Using math to the understand and combat brain disease
Mathematics, especially geometry, has been Liu's passion since he was in middle school. At UCLA, he has found a way to direct his passion and skill for the advancement of medical research. Liu has been using innovative applied mathematics to identify brain structures in MRI scans, which helps to establish markers of brain disease. Ultimately, his work is expected to help scientists in quantifying the progression of disease and understanding the brain's complex structure and function.
Liu's faculty advisors said that he is exceptional for having published eight academic papers, including four as a first author. They also characterize his teaching of undergraduates as inspiring, and praise his role as the founder and president of the first UCLA student chapter of the Society for Industrial and Applied Math.
"I love mathematics and I also like teaching a lot," said Liu, who received a Master's degree in applied mathematics from UCLA in 2005. "Therefore, I would like to become a professor in a university after graduation. I would like to encourage young students' interest in mathematics and continue my research. Using mathematics for more effective, efficient, and precise analysis of human brain disease will hopefully lead to cures."
Graduate student, Musicology
Incorporating marginalized musical voices
A disadvantaged childhood, eight years in the Army, and being both a person of color and a transsexual give Pennington an unconventional perspective on education and life. That background has enabled him to be a culturally sensitive and effective teacher, according to his faculty mentors.
"I always make sure to include a variety of voices and viewpoints every time I teach," said Pennington, who won the Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award for 2005-06. "That way, I can incorporate the histories of marginalized people that I myself never learned while I was in school."
Faculty members say that Pennington is also a dedicated researcher. His dissertation is on the Comedian Harmonists, a diverse German vocal group that included Jews and flourished until Hitler came to power, when it fell victim to the Nazi race laws. Pennington, who plays the banjo, sings, and composes, learned about the group while he was in Germany as an Army intelligence analyst.
Pennington received a master's degree in musicology from UCLA in 2003, and wants to teach the musicology of popular and twentieth-century music upon receiving his doctorate. A board member of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, he also plans to continue being active in the community.
Psychology
Mapping the neural bases of identity
Pfeifer is among just a few people in the country who are conducting research in the newly emerging field of developmental social neuroscience, according to Matthew Lieberman, one of her half-dozen academic advisors. Working in the Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, Pfeifer uses magnetic resonance imaging and other tools to examine the social cognitive development of kids and teens.
"My goal is to understand how the neural systems that support self and social perception develop and affect adjustment, achievement, attitudes, and developmental disorders," said Pfeifer, a teaching assistant since 2002 and the recipient of a master's degree in developmental psychology from UCLA in 2003. "Identities are not solely about our unique qualities, but also about what connects us with others. Because identities really bloom in the transition from childhood to adolescence, it's a perfect time to examine their neural foundations as well as their effect on developmental outcomes."
Her mentors attribute Pfeifer's great success to intelligence, creativity, motivation, and technical skills. Already she has a long list of awards, publications, and presentation credits. Next year, Pfeifer will conduct postdoctoral research at the Brain Mapping Center; after that, she will become an assistant professor in developmental psychology at the University of Oregon.
Senior, Chemistry/Materials Science
Making solar power affordable
"Organic solar panels should be visible in everyday life in the next 10 years," said Darcy Wanger, who is doing her best to make that happen by working in the laboratories of Physical Chemistry Professors Benjamin Schwartz and Yves Rubin. Wanger is undertaking the lab research while also pursuing both a bachelor's degree in Chemistry/Materials Science and a master's degree in Physical Chemistry. In the process, she has been lauded by faculty members for her independent and creative thinking, recognizing and pursuing important problems, and being able to simultaneously excel at everything she does.
"Solar work is both interesting science and ethical," Wanger said. "It's something real that could have a positive impact on the world." Wanger's master's thesis is on creating new organic compounds that absorb light and transport energy from the sun, and can be made inexpensively.
This year, Wanger has served as a teaching assistant for the honors freshman chemistry class, and engaged her musical side by playing the bassoon for the University Orchestra and the UCLA Woodwind Chamber Ensemble. After graduation next spring, she plans to seek a Ph.D. to develop these compounds into solar panels for industry and to become a professor in the academic community that she enjoys so much.
About the photographer: Collin Erie
Photographing the College's award-winning students is a talented photographer who is himself a UCLA undergraduate. Collin Erie is a contributing photographer to US Presswire, His images have been published in USA Today, Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, ESPN.com, SI.com, and NBCsports.com. A communications studies major, Erie will graduate from UCLA this June.
