Archive for category: College News

Image of a child drinking water

Simple method destroys dangerous ‘forever chemicals,’ making water safe

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Using common reagents in heated water, chemists can ‘behead’ and break down PFAS, leaving only harmless compounds
Image of a child drinking a glass of water

Unsplash/Johnny McClung

Holly Ober | August 18, 2022

Key takeaways:
• World’s water tainted. Synthetic PFAS, which have been linked to cancer and other diseases, have contaminated nearly every drop of water on the planet.
• Unbreakable bond. These chemicals contain a carbon-fluorine bond that is almost impossible to break, making it extremely difficult to eradicate them from water supplies.
• Off with their heads! Researchers devised a “guillotine” solution that uses moderate heat and inexpensive reagents to remove the “heads” of PFAS, initiating their destruction.

If you’re despairing at recent reports that Earth’s water sources have been thoroughly infested with hazardous human-made chemicals called PFAS that can last for thousands of years, making even rainwater unsafe to drink, there’s a spot of good news.

Chemists at UCLA and Northwestern University have developed a simple way to break down almost a dozen types of these nearly indestructible “forever chemicals” at relatively low temperatures with no harmful byproducts.

In a paper published today in the journal Science, the researchers show that in water heated to just 176 to 248 degrees Fahrenheit, common, inexpensive solvents and reagents severed molecular bonds in PFAS that are among the strongest known and initiated a chemical reaction that “gradually nibbled away at the molecule” until it was gone, said UCLA distinguished research professor and co-corresponding author Kendall Houk.

The simple technology, the comparatively low temperatures and the lack of harmful byproducts mean there is no limit to how much water can be processed at once, Houk added. The technology could eventually make it easier for water treatment plants to remove PFAS from drinking water.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances­ — PFAS for short — are a class of around 12,000 synthetic chemicals that have been used since the 1940s in nonstick cookware, waterproof makeup, shampoos, electronics, food packaging and countless other products. They contain a bond between carbon and fluorine atoms that nothing in nature can break.

When these chemicals leach into the environment through manufacturing or everyday product use, they become part of the Earth’s water cycle. Over the past 70 years, PFAS have contaminated virtually every drop of water on the planet, and their strong carbon-fluorine bond allows them to pass through most water treatment systems completely unharmed. They can accumulate in the tissues of people and animals over time and cause harm in ways that scientists are just beginning to understand. Certain cancers and thyroid diseases, for example, are associated with PFAS.

For these reasons, finding ways to remove PFAS from water has become particularly urgent. Scientists are experimenting with many remediation technologies, but most of them require extremely high temperatures, special chemicals or ultraviolet light and sometimes produce byproducts that are also harmful and require additional steps to remove.

Leading PFAS to the guillotine

Northwestern chemistry professor William Dichtel and doctoral student Brittany Trang noticed that while PFAS molecules contain a long “tail” of stubborn carbon-fluorine bonds, their “head” group often contains charged oxygen atoms, which react strongly with other molecules. Dichtel’s team built a chemical guillotine by heating the PFAS in water with dimethyl sulfoxide, also known as DMSO, and sodium hydroxide, or lye, which lopped off the head and left behind an exposed, reactive tail.

“That triggered all these reactions, and it started spitting out fluorine atoms from these compounds to form fluoride, which is the safest form of fluorine,” Dichtel said. “Although carbon-fluorine bonds are super-strong, that charged head group is the Achilles’ heel.”

But the experiments revealed another surprise: The molecules didn’t seem to be falling apart the way conventional wisdom said they should.

To solve this mystery, Dichtel and Trang shared their data with collaborators Houk and Tianjin University student Yuli Li, who was working in Houk’s group remotely from China during the pandemic. The researchers had expected the PFAS molecules would disintegrate one carbon atom at a time, but Li and Houk ran computer simulations that showed two or three carbon molecules peeled off the molecules simultaneously, just as Dichtel and Tang had observed experimentally.

The simulations also showed the only byproducts should be fluoride — often added to drinking water to prevent tooth decay — carbon dioxide and formic acid, which is not harmful. Dichtel and Trang confirmed these predicted byproducts in further experiments.

“This proved to be a very complex set of calculations that challenged the most modern quantum mechanical methods and fastest computers available to us,” Houk said. “Quantum mechanics is the mathematical method that simulates all of chemistry, but only in the last decade have we been able to take on large mechanistic problems like this, evaluating all the possibilities and determining which one can happen at the observed rate.”

Li, Houk said, has mastered these computational methods, and he worked long distance with Trang to solve the fundamental but practically significant problem.

The current work degraded 10 types of perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluoroalkyl ether carboxylic acids (PFECAs), including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The researchers believe their method will work for most PFAS that contain carboxylic acids and hope it will help identify weak spots in other classes of PFAS. They hope these encouraging results will lead to further research that tests methods for eradicating the thousands of other types of PFAS.

The study, “Low-temperature mineralization of perfluorocarboxylic acids,” was supported by the National Science Foundation.

This article originally appeared in the UCLA Newsroom. For more news and updates from the UCLA College, visit college.ucla.edu/news.

Image of Oroville dam spillway flooding

Climate change makes catastrophic flood twice as likely, study shows

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Increased runoff could lead to devastating landslides and debris flows — particularly in hilly areas burned by wildfires
Image of Flood waters surging over the Oroville Dam spillway in California and damaging the surrounding channel on Feb. 11, 2017.

Flood waters surging over the Oroville Dam spillway in California and damaging the surrounding channel on Feb. 11, 2017. | William Croyle/California Department of Water Resources

David Colgan | 

Key takeaways:
• Climate change has already made extreme precipitation in California twice as likely, part of a trend projected to continue through 2100.
• Extreme storm sequences are projected to generate 200% to 400% more runoff by the end of the century.
• Today’s study is the first part of ArkStorm 2.0, a scenario to prepare for catastrophic flooding in the western United States.

California lives with a sleeping giant — an occasional flood so large that it inundates major valleys with water flows hundreds of miles long and tens of miles across.

Motivated by one such flood that occurred in 1862, scientists investigated the phenomenon in 2010. They called it the “ArkStorm scenario,” reflecting the potential for an event of biblical proportions.

To account for the additional flood-worsening effects of climate change, scientists from UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research have completed the first part of ArkStorm 2.0.

“In the future scenario, the storm sequence is bigger in almost every respect,” said Daniel Swain, UCLA climate scientist and co-author of the paper, which is published today in the journal Science Advances. “There’s more rain overall, more intense rainfall on an hourly basis and stronger wind.”

In total, the research projects that end-of-the-century storms will generate 200% to 400% more runoff in the Sierra Nevada Mountains due to increased precipitation and more precipitation falling as rain, not snow.

The researchers used a combination of new high-resolution weather modeling and existing climate models to compare two extreme scenarios: one that would occur about once per century in the recent historical climate and another in the projected climate of 2081-2100. Both would involve a long series of storms fueled by atmospheric rivers over the course of a month.

The paper also simulated how the storms would affect parts of California at a local level.

“There are localized spots that get over 100 liquid-equivalent inches of water in the month,” Swain said, referring to the future scenario. “On 10,000-foot peaks, which are still somewhat below freezing even with warming, you get 20-foot-plus snow accumulations. But once you get down to South Lake Tahoe level and lower in elevation, it’s all rain. There would be much more runoff.”

The increased runoff could lead to devastating landslides and debris flows — particularly in hilly areas burned by wildfires.

The paper, which was coauthored by climate scientist Xingying Huang, found that historical climate change has already doubled the likelihood of such an extreme storm scenario, building on previous UCLA research showing increases in extreme precipitation events and more common major floods in California. The study also found that further large increases in “megastorm” risk are likely with each additional degree of global warming this century.

“Modeling extreme weather behavior is crucial to helping all communities understand flood risk even during periods of drought like the one we’re experiencing right now,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the Califiornia Department of Water Resources, which provided funding for the study. “The department will use this report to identify the risks, seek resources, support the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, and help educate all Californians so we can understand the risk of flooding in our communities and be prepared.”

With drought and wildfire getting so much attention, Californians may have lost sight of extreme flooding, Swain said. “There is potential for bad wildfires every year in California, but a lot of years go by when there’s no major flood news. People forget about it.”

The state has experienced major floods over the years, but nothing on the scale of the Great Flood of 1862. During that disaster — when no flood management infrastructure was in place — floodwaters stretched up to 300 miles long and as wide as 60 miles across in California’s Central Valley. The state’s population then was about 500,000, compared to nearly 40 million today. Were a similar event to happen again, parts of cities such as Sacramento,

Stockton, Fresno and Los Angeles would be under water even with today’s extensive collection of reservoirs, levees and bypasses. It is estimated that it would be a $1 trillion disaster, larger than any in world history.

Though no flood so large has happened since, climate modeling and the paleoclimate record — including river sediment deposits dating back thousands of years — shows that it typically happened every 100 to 200 years in the pre-climate change era.

The ArkStorm flood is also known as “the Other Big One” after the nickname of an expected major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault. But, unlike an earthquake, the ArkStorm would lead to catastrophe across a much larger area.

“Every major population center in California would get hit at once — probably parts of Nevada and other adjacent states, too,” Swain said.

The effects on infrastructure would complicate relief efforts, with major interstate freeways such as the I-5 and I-80 likely shut down for weeks or months, Swain said. Economic and supply chain effects would be felt globally.

The first ArkStorm exercise concluded that it would not be possible to evacuate the 5 to 10 million people who would be displaced by flood waters, even with weeks of notice from meteorologists and climatologists. While it helped inform flood planning in some regions, the exercise was limited due to lack of organized resources and funding, Swain said.

California has already seen increases in climate-driven drought and record-breaking wildfires, Swain said. With climate change-amplified flooding, ArkStorm 2.0 aims to get ahead of the curve.

Further research and preparations to respond to such a scenario — including advanced flood simulations supported by the California Department of Water Resources — are planned to follow, Swain said.  This will include collaborations with partner agencies including the California Office of Emergency Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Researchers next hope to map out where flooding could be worst and inform statewide plans to mitigate it. That could mean letting water out of reservoirs preemptively, allowing water to inundate dedicated floodplains and diverting water away from population centers in other ways.

This article originally appeared in the UCLA Newsroom. For more news and updates from the UCLA College, visit college.ucla.edu/news.

Portrait of Abel Valenzuela

Abel Valenzuela Jr. to serve as interim dean of UCLA’s division of social sciences

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Portrait of Abel Valenzuela Jr. at Royce Hall

Abel Valenzuela Jr. | © Carla Zarate

Beginning Sept. 1, 2022, Abel Valenzuela Jr. — professor of labor studies, urban planning and Chicana/o and Central American studies and director of UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment — will serve as interim dean of UCLA’s division of social sciences.

He will remain in the role through the end of the 2023–24 academic year as UCLA conducts a search for the division’s next permanent dean to succeed Darnell Hunt, who was appointed the university’s next executive vice chancellor and provost.

“I am proud to pass the torch to such an extraordinary colleague as Abel Valenzuela,” said Hunt. “He is an exceptional scholar, visionary and leader who exemplifies the highest ideals of the division, College and UCLA itself.”

“Stepping into this role is a deep honor and a remarkable opportunity to further the important and impactful work of the division under Dean Hunt’s leadership. The division is special for many reasons, including harnessing social science for the public good,” said Valenzuela. “We will move forward with excellence, doing what we do best at UCLA and in the division of social sciences: impactful research, teaching and service that make a difference locally, nationally and beyond.”

A faculty member since 1994, Valenzuela holds appointments in the César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies and the labor studies program in the UCLA College division of social sciences, as well as in the department of urban planning in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

He has held several administrative leadership positions, including chairing Chicana/o and Central American studies for six years and directing the Center for the Study of Urban Poverty. He recently stepped down as special advisor to the chancellor on immigration policy after working with the chancellor and an advisory council to safeguard and enhance student success among immigrant, undocumented and international students.

As director of UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) for the past six years, he oversaw multiple units: labor studies, the Labor Center, the Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH) and the Human Resources Round Table (HARRT), which are dedicated to advancing research, teaching and service on labor and employment issues in Los Angeles and beyond. Under his leadership, the Labor Center and LOSH have generated millions in extramural research grants and contracts. In fall 2019, the IRLE also launched the labor studies major for undergraduates — the first of its kind at the University of California — which continues to surpass yearly enrollment goals.

Valenzuela worked closely with campus and Labor Center leadership in the purchase, naming and current renovation of the Labor Center’s building located in downtown Los Angeles. In late 2021, the historic building was named in honor of Reverend James Lawson Jr., a labor and civil rights icon and UCLA Medal recipient.

During UCLA’s Centennial Celebration, Valenzuela led UCLA: Our Stories, Our Impact, an effort to recognize and uplift alumni of color who have dedicated their work to social justice and change. As a traveling exhibit, the project engaged the campus’s ethnic studies centers, UCLA community schools and local organizations.

Known as a leading national expert, Valenzuela continues to frame public and policy conversations on immigrant and low-wage workers. He has published numerous articles and reports on immigrant settlement, labor market outcomes, urban poverty and inequality. He earned his B.A. from UC Berkeley and his master’s and Ph.D. in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Given his experience in numerous leadership roles across campus and the UC, and his passion to leverage social science to better understand and lead positive change, I am confident Professor Valenzuela will provide effective leadership and continue the division’s momentum during this period of transition,” said Michael S. Levine, interim executive vice chancellor and provost. “I hope you will join me in wishing outgoing dean Darnell Hunt the very best as UCLA’s next EVCP, and in thanking Professor Valenzuela for stepping into this leadership role.”

Group image of Miguel García-Garibay, dean of the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences; Steven Chu, Stanford’s William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics and U.S. Secretary of Energy from 2009-2013; Mani L. Bhaumik, Institute founder, physicist and philanthropist; David Gross, UCSB’s Chancellor’s Chair Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics; Andrea Ghez, UCLA's Lauren B. Leichtman & Arthur E. Levine Chair in Astrophysics and winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics; Gene D. Block, UCLA Chancellor; and Zvi Bern, director of the Mani L. Bhaumik Institute.

Celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics

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Group image of Miguel García-Garibay, dean of the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences; Steven Chu, Stanford’s William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics and U.S. Secretary of Energy from 2009-2013; Mani L. Bhaumik, Institute founder, physicist and philanthropist; David Gross, UCSB’s Chancellor’s Chair Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics; Andrea Ghez, UCLA's Lauren B. Leichtman & Arthur E. Levine Chair in Astrophysics and winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics; Gene D. Block, UCLA Chancellor; and Zvi Bern, director of the Mani L. Bhaumik Institute.

At Mani-Fest 2022: Miguel García-Garibay, dean of the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences; Steven Chu, Stanford’s William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics and U.S. Secretary of Energy from 2009-2013; Mani L. Bhaumik, Institute founder, physicist and philanthropist; David Gross, UCSB’s Chancellor’s Chair Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics; Andrea Ghez, UCLA’s Lauren B. Leichtman & Arthur E. Levine Chair in Astrophysics and winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics; Gene D. Block, UCLA Chancellor; and Zvi Bern, director of the Mani L. Bhaumik Institute. (Not pictured is Barry Barish, Linde Professor of Physics emeritus at the California Institute of Technology and winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics, who delivered a presentation at the event, “Gravitational Waves and Multi-Messenger Astronomy.”) | Photo by Marco Bollinger

Jonathan Riggs | July 28, 2022

“I believe in one thing,” goes the famous quote by Albert Einstein, “that only a life lived for others is a life worth living.” From one world-changing physicist to another — Einstein’s truism could also be the motto of Mani L. Bhaumik, who celebrated two milestones this year: his 91st birthday and the fifth anniversary of the Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics at UCLA.

“Mani’s generosity is truly amazing, matched only by his deep passion for fundamental physics,” says Zvi Bern, director of the Institute. “I am confident that 50 years from now, people will see that the creation of the Institute was a defining moment that changed everything, bringing UCLA’s physics department to the top global echelon.”

Beginning with a transformative $11 million gift in 2016 that was the largest in the history of both the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences and the UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy, Bhaumik’s vision of a world-leading center to support foundational work in quantum field theory, unification of forces and, more recently, foundational issues in quantum mechanics, has surpassed all expectations. In fact, its success has allowed UCLA to compete head on with the best universities in theoretical physics.

“Just this past year, two of our students got great faculty offers one year out of graduate school — it is extremely rare even at top universities for a single student to accomplish this, but two students in one year is simply unprecedented,” says Bern. “I am also happy to report that the most-cited paper of 2021 on the hep-th physics arXiv — pushing the frontiers of precision general relativity by using ideas from the quantum field — is from the Bhaumik Institute. We are doing what we promised Mani.”

In addition, the Institute currently has 10 postdocs and is providing fellowships for 31 graduate students this summer; it has sparked more than 250 scientific papers — and counting; it is involved in efforts to diversify the field of nuclear physics; and it has attracted top-tier faculty to UCLA, including Mikhail Solon, who won a Sloan Research Fellowship, and Thomas Dumitrescu, who won the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Early Career Award as well as funding to establish multi-institute collaboration on symmetries.

“The Institute attracts the best people with different scientific backgrounds, and fosters an environment where they can freely exchange ideas and pursue bold new directions. The focus is on supporting young people such as postdocs and graduate students: the lifeblood of the field,” says Solon. “This density of people and ideas really elevates the day-to-day scientific interactions and provides the stimulus for creativity. We cherish the intellectual freedom the institute provides, and use it to pursue the best science.”

“For me personally, coming to UCLA as a faculty member was completely entwined with the promise of the Bhaumik Institute —I have the honor of being the inaugural holder of the Mani L. Bhaumik presidential term chair in theoretical physics,” says Dumitrescu. “I think the Institute has made amazing strides and this rapid progress has definitely been noticed and is appreciated at UCLA and far beyond.”

Of course, none of this would be possible without Bhaumik himself, the largest supporter to the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences. In addition to a 2018 gift of $3 million, he recently completed his pledges early ($15.26 million for current-use and endowed funds for the Bhaumik Institute and $1.175 million to support the construction of the UCLA Collaboratory, formerly the chemistry library in Young Hall).

Prior to his distinguished career as a laser physicist, Bhaumik’s love of theoretical physics originated as a student in India where he learned about Kaluza-Klein theories from S. N. Bose (of Bose-Einstein fame), igniting his passion for deep questions in theoretical physics.

“Mani’s vision for the Institute — to be a world-class center for theoretical physics, to plant the seeds for future Nobel prizes — can be intimidating, but I believe it can be realized and I am honored to be part of building this,” says Solon. “Mani’s vision for science is at the core of everything the institute is and does. His own quest to understand nature at a fundamental level inspires us all to pursue the deepest questions.”

“In addition to all the magnificent accomplishments of the Bhaumik Institute, I have immensely benefited from profound professional discussions with all the physics luminaries at UCLA,” says Bhaumik. “As a result, I have gained the intellectual satisfaction of confirming that non-relativistic quantum mechanics used by over 90% of the practitioners can be a real theory, and not just based on the collection of postulates.”      

This June’s conference, Mani-Fest 2022: Directions in Theoretical Physics, celebrated the past while looking to the future, covering issues ranging from quantum field theory to black holes to string theory to gravitational waves and beyond as well as featuring several presentations highlighting research carried out at the Institute. Among the notable attendees were four Nobel Prize-winning physicists.

“It was nice to see physics outside of the classroom; I was especially interested in listening and talking to people in the field that I’m moving into, high energy theoretical physics,” says attendee Anna Wolz, a first-year physics doctoral student at UCLA. “It was inspiring to see who are so passionate about their research and their new ideas. Honestly, it reminds me why I’m here and what I have to look forward to.”

“We are so grateful to Mani L. Bhaumik for launching this visionary Institute, and to everyone who has contributed to making his dream an incredible reality,” says Miguel García-Garibay, dean of the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences. “Its remarkable success benefits so many, from faculty to students to the field of science itself, and this is only the beginning.”

For more of Our Stories at the College, click here.

UCLA

$1.2 million from Kachigian family trust establishes UCLA lectureship in Armenian studies

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Armenian language scholar Hagop Kouloujian has been appointed to the position for a five-year term
Black-and-white portraits of Kachigian siblings

Left to right: Siblings George, Alice and Harold Kachigian | UCLA

Jonathan Riggs | July 21, 2022

Key takeaways:
   • Late siblings George and Alice Kachigian were longtime supporters of  Armenian scholarship at UCLA.
   • The inaugural lectureship holder, Hagop Kouloujian, seeks to revive Western Armenian by having students compose creative works in the endangered language.

The UCLA Division of Humanities has received a $1.2 million bequest from the estate of siblings George and Alice Kachigian to support the Armenian studies program in the department of Near Eastern languages and cultures. As part of the gift, the department created the Kachigian Family Lectureship in Armenian Language and Culture.

The inaugural holder of the lectureship will be Hagop Kouloujian, a UCLA scholar and instructor who specializes in Western Armenian, a language that since the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century has been spoken almost exclusively by people in the diaspora. Kouloujian was instrumental in having it designated an endangered language by UNESCO in 2010.

“We are grateful for the kindness and visionary support of the Kachigian family,” said David Schaberg, dean of humanities and senior dean of the UCLA College. “Their generosity will contribute to the vitality of this endangered language and culture.”

Los Angeles, with the largest Armenian-speaking population outside Armenia itself, and UCLA are natural settings for such scholarship. Since the launch of the Armenian studies program in 1969, UCLA has been a destination for students interested in the field, and the creation of the UCLA Promise Armenian Institute in 2019 cemented the university’s leadership role in Armenian research and public impact programs.

Image of Hagop Kouloujian, UCLA’s inaugural Kachigian Family Lecturer in Armenian Language and Culture

Hagop Kouloujian, UCLA’s inaugural Kachigian Family Lecturer in Armenian Language and Culture | Courtesy of Hagop Kouloujian

Kouloujian’s ongoing Language in Action project at UCLA, funded by the Portugal-based Calouse Gulbenkian Foundation, exemplifies his “creative literacy” approach, which focuses on teaching students by encouraging their own creative output. His students have produced hundreds of pieces, ranging from creative works to nonfiction, with the goal of contributing to the vitality of Western Armenian language and culture.

In May 2022, for example, the department of Near Eastern languages and cultures held an event to celebrate the publication of “Girkov useloo, inchoo hos em?” (“To Say With Passion, Why Am I Here?”), a full-length volume of poetry written in Western Armenian by the late Tenny Arlen, a 2013 UCLA comparative literature graduate who learned the language and wrote most of the collection in Kouloujian’s courses.

Donors George and Alice Kachigian, for whom the lectureship is named, were active members and generous supporters of the Los Angeles Armenian community. Although they moved to Oregon 30 years ago following the deaths of their parents and brother Harold, they continued to support UCLA’s Armenian studies program throughout their lives, providing research funding for faculty in the divisions of social sciences and humanities.

Alice died in 2017, and after George’s death in 2019, the siblings’ estate left generous funding to the Armenian studies program and the department of neurology at UCLA.

“The Kachigian family were friends to all, donated to many causes and counseled anyone who requested their help. They lived lives of goodness and kindness,” said Rafe Aharonian, trustee of the Kachigian Living Trust. “George, Alice and Harold wanted to help the youth learn more about Armenian heritage, and courses like Dr. Kouloujian’s encourage connections between UCLA students of Armenian heritage who might otherwise not have met.”

The Kachigians’ legacy will live on in all those at UCLA and elsewhere who, through the family’s generosity, have developed a deep connection to and appreciation for Armenian culture and language, said Kouloujian, who will hold the lectureship for five years.

“My aspiration for this lectureship is to continue to enhance UCLA’s Armenian work with forward-looking activities and community impact projects that will help invigorate the future of this language and culture,” he said. “I want to share the enduring, evolving beauty and power of Armenian with as many people as possible.”

This article originally appeared in the UCLA Newsroom. For more of Our Stories at the College, click here.

Photo of Christopher, a white genderqueer man with short brown hair, small-framed glasses, a white t-shirt, and a black bomber jacket with a trans pride pin, smiles to the camera in front of a lavender background.

Finding himself at the intersection of communication and disability studies

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Activist, advocate and artist Christopher Ikonomou looks ahead to his UCLA senior year

Photo of Christopher, a white genderqueer man with short brown hair, small-framed glasses, a white t-shirt, and a black bomber jacket with a trans pride pin, smiles to the camera in front of a lavender background.

Christopher Ikonomou

Jonathan Riggs | July 18, 2022

Scroll through most UCLA students’ TikToks and you’ll find similar content: summer adventures, pet videos, comedic musings. That’s all there on Christopher Ikonomou’s TikTok, plus updates on the open-heart surgery he had June 13.

Diagnosed with Marfan syndrome at 18 months old, Ikonomou (who uses he/xe pronouns) posted regularly before and after the surgery, which often becomes necessary for those with the syndrome to avoid potentially fatal aortic dissections. (Ikonomou must rest frequently on his way to class, take elevators in lieu of stairs and avoid strenuous activities: a challenge on UCLA’s hilly campus.)

Unflappable with a kind, wry sense of humor — Ikonomou posted a post-surgical TikTok dancing in his hospital bed under the caption, “didn’t think I’d get to check off ‘hallucinations after open heart surgery’ this year” — he has built an impressive social media following. Even more so, however, is his reputation as an activist. An outspoken member of the Disabled Student Union at UCLA who participated in this February’s successful sit-in, Ikonomou is a communication major and disability studies minor who hopes to make a career and a difference at the intersection of these fields.

Photo of Quinn (left) and Christopher (right) standing with stern expressions in front of the UCLA Chancellor’s Office doors plastered with flyers and posters with anti-racist and pro-disabled messages. Quinn is a Brown genderfluid person with chin length dark hair, a black KN95 mask, a gold necklace and matching dangly earrings, a rose tattoo, and a brown tank top tucked into light-wash jeans. Christopher is a white genderqueer man with short brown hair, small-framed glasses, a black KN95 mask, a white crewneck sweater, and blue shorts.

© Rowan O’Bryan
Ikonomou and Quinn O’Connor take part in the 2022 sit-in at Murphy Hall.

“Knowing what I do about my community and the power of entertainment, I want to change disabled representation within media,” Ikonomou says. “When I started making TikToks and being very open about my disability, I saw firsthand what people’s first reactions could be.”

In one instance, he spoofed these reactions by participating in a popular TikTok challenge where users reveal their celebrity doppelganger; Ikonomou jokingly discovers his is the horror character Slenderman.

“The majority of comments I get like that compare me to things that aren’t human — our bodies are made to be the villains,” Ikonomou says. “The actor Javier Botet, who also has Marfan syndrome, has had a lot of success playing monsters in Hollywood. It’s cool he’s rich and gets lots of villain roles, but I think we should have the opportunity to play heroes as well. And I want to be a part of that.”

Ikonomou knows all about speaking truth to power — he’s a longtime debater who grew his high school team from six to 60, served as captain for two years and led them to a national No. 1 ranking. He’s also the Editor-in-Chief of UCLA’s official queer newsmagazine, OutWrite, and a popular Etsy creator specializing in queer and disability stickers, buttons, pins, apparel and prints. (Proceeds of up to 100% of the sales from his various collections are donated to related charities, including his Pride-themed CASETiFY phone cases.)

Photo of Christopher, a tall, thin, white genderqueer man with short brown hair tucked under a sky blue baseball cap, small-framed glasses, a black space-themed mask, a white Disabled Student Union t-shirt, black sweatpants, and purple shoes, standing in front of foliage beside Kaplan Hall at UCLA. He speaks into a microphone and holds up a protest sign reading “Accessibility Now! We Deserve Better!” in blue and yellow lettering. Beside him on the ground sits a teal water bottle with stickers on it.

© The Disabled Student Union at UCLA

As he eyes his senior year and his goal of revamping the entertainment industry from the inside, Ikonomou draws strength from the knowledge that he’s already overcome formidable challenges.

“I was good at math in high school, but the college level wasn’t for me. Announcing that I wasn’t going to be a math major anymore was the best and the hardest decision I’ve made in college,” he says. “I make a joke that it was easier for me to come out as trans than it was to say I didn’t want to be in STEM anymore to immigrant parents.”

Underpinning all Ikonomou’s learned so far in his college experience is having the courage to decide what he wants to do, putting himself out there to try and learning from the results. For example, Ikonomou wasn’t accepted into the UCLA design media arts major, but considers some of the classes he took in the area among his favorites, including a typography course that has helped immensely with magazine layout work. It’s this resilient, optimistic outlook that’s helped Ikonomou find like-minded allies — and himself.

“My number one inspiration is the community I have found, both online and in person at UCLA. My illness is very rare, but quite literally millions of people across the U.S. and world experience systemic barriers,” he says. “My disability studies minor has shown me how I can use what I’m learning to advocate for a better world for all. That gasses me up and keeps me moving forward.”

Raising awareness of Marfan syndrome is the main goal of Ikonomou’s educational TikToks, like this one. For more information, he recommends visiting the Marfan Foundation and its Instagram, where you might see a familiar face.

For more of Our Stories at the College, click here.

Darnell Hunt named executive vice chancellor and provost

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The longtime campus leader will become UCLA’s chief academic officer effective Sept. 1
Portrait of Darnell Hunt

Darnell Hunt, professor of sociology and African American studies, and as of Sept. 1, 2022, UCLA executive vice chancellor and provost. © Alyssa Bierce/UCLA

UCLA Newsroom | 

Darnell Hunt, the dean of the division of social sciences and a professor of sociology and African American studies, has been appointed UCLA’s next executive vice chancellor and provost.

“A longtime campus leader widely respected for his vision, diligence, fairness and commitment to inclusive excellence, Dean Hunt will bring considerable skills, knowledge and experience to his new role as UCLA’s chief academic officer,” Chancellor Gene Block said in a message to campus. “I am certain that his service will continue to elevate our great institution.”

Hunt, who will begin in his new role on Sept. 1, has been a leading figure on campus for more than two decades. After beginning his academic career on the sociology faculty at USC, he joined UCLA in 2001 as a professor of sociology and director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. He led the Bunche Center from 2001 to 2017, and additionally served as chair of the sociology department from 2015 to 2017, before being named dean of the division of social sciences in the UCLA College.

As dean for the past five years, he has focused on supporting and elevating the social sciences and extending their reach across the academy and into the community.

Under his leadership, the social sciences division:

• expanded and continued to diversify its world-class faculty;

• established the Barbra Streisand Center for the Future of Women;

• created the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute;

• renamed the Downtown Labor Center after UCLA lecturer, civil rights icon and UCLA Medal recipient Rev. James Lawson Jr.;

• launched the “Big Data” and Society initiative and LA Social Science, an interactive forum designed to showcase research and engaged scholarship;

• secured a multi-year grant from the Mellon Foundation to support hiring and curricula with a focus on social justice, which was accomplished in conjunction with the division of humanities.

“Inclusive excellence and engaged scholarship are more than mere buzzwords,” Hunt said. “As EVCP, I look forward to working with campus leadership and our broader intellectual community to elevate these longstanding ideals at UCLA in concrete ways. By doing so, I know we can build on UCLA’s extraordinary contributions as one of the world’s great public research universities.”

Hunt earned his A.B. in journalism at the University of Southern California, his M.B.A. at Georgetown University, and his master of arts and doctorate in sociology at UCLA.

He has written extensively about issues related to race, media and culture, including four books and numerous articles for academic journals and news outlets. While his research expertise is wide ranging, he has developed a particular focus on issues of access and diversity in the entertainment industry. Since 2014, he has been the lead author of UCLA’s influential Hollywood Diversity Report, providing comprehensive analyses of the employment of women and people of color in front of and behind the camera in film and television.

A sought-after commentator in news media on questions of media and race, he has also served on panel discussions sponsored by the Federal Communications Commission, the United Nations, the Congressional Black Caucus, numerous colleges and universities and other organizations. The findings of his research studies have been reported in thousands of print, radio, broadcast and online media outlets throughout the United States and abroad. In 2010, he was listed among Ebony magazine’s “Power 150 Academia” for his community-engaged scholarship.

Hunt is a member of the American Sociological Association, the Association of Black Sociologists and the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences. He has served as a member of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations Academic Advisory Board and as a staff researcher for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ hearings on the 1992 Los Angeles civil disturbances.

He currently serves as a member of the Chancellor’s Council on the Arts, the campus IT steering committee and the Faculty Forward Initiative task force at UCLA, and is also a member of the UC Press board of directors. In addition, he has served on numerous campus and UC committees including the committee on diversity and equal opportunity, the committee on undergraduate admissions and relations with schools, the classroom advisory committee, the civic engagement task force, and the UC Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools, and was the recipient of the UCLA Academic Senate’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award in 2011.

In his announcement, Block thanked the committee members who conducted the search and he also shared his appreciation for Michael Levine for serving as the interim executive vice chancellor and provost since last October.

“Interim EVCP Levine took up this position during a challenging period, and through it all he has remained a dedicated steward of our academic enterprise,” Block said. Levine will return to his role as vice chancellor for academic personnel in September.

In closing Block expressed his optimism about UCLA’s future as Hunt prepares to become executive vice chancellor and provost.

“Given Dean Hunt’s UCLA roots, coupled with his administrative experience and compelling vision for UCLA, I am confident that he will provide extraordinary leadership in this new role,” Block said. “I greatly look forward to working with him and the campus community to advance our shared goals.”

This article originally appeared in the UCLA Newsroom. For more news and updates from the UCLA College, visit college.ucla.edu/news.