Sue Hart, Ph.D. '86 (center), UCSD Alumni Association Awards for Excellence nominations chair and sponsor, with UCSD student volunteers Julia Tomlin, '08 and Anshu Abhat, '07.

Six accomplished University of California, San Diego alumni and students will receive top honors on Saturday, June 7 at the 30th annual UCSD Alumni Association Awards for Excellence scholarship fundraiser to be held in the Price Center Ballroom on campus. Winners include Afghan-American Khaled Hosseini, M.D. ’93, physician and author of A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner; Gunars Valkirs ’74, Ph.D.’82, biophysicist and co-founder of Biosite Inc.; Anthony Jackson ’74, physician, undergraduate mentor and education advocate; David Jordan, professor emeritus, anthropology, and former provost of Warren College; and students Sapna Iyer and Jeffrey Mounzer, selected for their scholarly achievement, student leadership and community involvement.

A 30-year tradition at UC San Diego, the alumni Awards for Excellence event recognizes individuals who have distinguished themselves in a particular field and brought honor and distinction to the university. “Each year, we on the nominations committee are impressed and challenged by the caliber of our alumni engaged in noteworthy pursuits, especially from a university as young as UC San Diego,” said Sue Hart, Ph.D. ’86, chair of the nominations committee and an event sponsor. “Not only has this year’s group of honorees made outstanding contributions to such areas as global relations, healthcare and our local communities, many of them veered from their traditional professions to do so.”

The following sponsors have helped to underwrite the 30th annual Awards for Excellence, which will benefit the UCSD Alumni Association endowed scholarship programs:

HONORARY CHAIR
Pam Palisoul ’72

Gold Level Sponsors
Sue Hart, Ph.D. ’86 and Steven Hart, M.A. ’80
GEICO
Bank of America

Silver Level Sponsors
B. Anderson, ’93
Philip R. and Pamela Fadem Palisoul, ’72
George Duff, ’88 and Pacific Event Productions

Bronze Level Sponsors
Bar Works
Doug Kawahara, ’76
Ann and Joel Reed
Stephen Schreiner, ’80 of Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith LLP

Pearl Level Sponsors
Armin Afsahi, ’90
Mary Rose Alexander, ’86 and Tim Gilfoyle
Chris Arrott, ’80
Comerica Bank
Henry, ’79 and Vikki DeVries
Mark Diamond, ’87
Greene Music
Karl Strauss Brewing Company
Joe, ’99 and Erin, ’99 Leventhal
Mission Federal Credit Union
Karen Moraghan, ’81 and Hunter Public Relations
Colette Rudd, ’73 and Marion Rudd, ’72
Rachel, ’71 and Cynthia York

For more information about the UCSD Alumni Association Awards for Excellence, visit www.alumni.ucsd.edu/awards or call (858) 534-3900.