Compiled by Talene Yotnotsian
Five to be Honored With UCI’s Highest Award
The University of California, Irvine, is set to give its highest honor, the UCI Medal, to three individuals and one couple. The recipients are set to be honored at a dinner in October held at the university’s Bren Events Center. Honorees are:
Raymond Watson, former president of The Irvine Company. He served as chief planner of UC Irvine during the 1960s and ’70s. He left the Irvine Co. to form his own company, Newport Development Co. He later returned to the Irvine Co. He now is retired and is on the Irvine Co.’s board. He also is a lifetime member and past president of UCI’s Chancellor’s Club.
Julie Boyle, a clinical oncology nurse and director of patient care at UCI Medical Center’s Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer. Boyle is the first staff employee to receive the award.
Douglas Freeman, chairman and national managing partner at Irvine-based IFF Advisors LLC. He also is a founding partner of law firm Freeman, Freeman & Smiley, which has an office in Irvine. He is chair of UC Irvine’s Foundation, a member of its executive committee and a past member of UCI’s Chief Executive Roundtable.
Edward and Helen Shanbrom, supporters of numerous campus organizations, including UCI Medical Center, the School of Medicine and Claire Trevor of School of the Arts for more than three decades. Edward is a hematologist and former instructor at the School of Medicine. Helen is a founding member of the Friends of the Library at the university.
Doreen DeLaney, chief operations officer of Countrywide Insurance Group in the Irvine office, was named a Corporate Trailblazer by Minorities in Business Magazine. She is recognized for her work during last year’s hurricanes in helping Countrywide serve policyholders impacted by the disaster.
Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear LLP, an Irvine-based law firm specializing in intellectual property, was ranked as the top IP law firm in the Western U.S. for trademark and copyright matters in a survey by Euromoney’s Managing Intellectual Property magazine.
Robert W. Bein of Irvine engineering firm RBF Consulting was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers, Orange County. Bein has more than 45 years of experience in engineering, in the public and private sectors.
AeA, a technology trade association, honored Sen. Dick Ackerman of Orange County with the Orange County Legislator of the Year Award for 2005. The award recognizes Ackerman for his contributions to support the recovery of the technology industry in California. Ackerman is of counsel at Rutan & Tucker LLP.
California State University, Fullerton, honored one of its founding deans by naming a room in McCarthy Hall the Beth and Giles T. Brown Conference Room. Brown served the university as faculty member and administrator for 23 years before his retirement in 1983.
Edward Hernandez Jr., chancellor at Rancho Santiago Community College District, received the Educator Award from the South Santa Ana Merchants Association. Hernandez is the chief executive of the state’s seventh largest community college district, where he leads more than 3,000 employees.
Two Orange County engineering firms received recognition from the Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California. Hall & Forman Inc. and Goffman, McCormick & Urban Geotechnical Inc. each earned a Merit Award for their work on the Covenant Hills project. Covenant Hills is a gated village of hillside homes in Ladera Ranch.
Architectural firm H. Hendy Associates Inc., based in Newport Beach, ranked in the Top 100 Giants list compiled by Interior Design magazine. H. Hendy Associates was selected based on the firm’s size and revenue growth.
Paul Glowienke, a Newport Beach-based financial representative with the Waltos Group of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, received a Silver Award for his service to clients and for being the top producing second-year financial representative for the Western region.
The Professional Dental Group of Sybron Dental Specialties Inc. received several awards at the 2006 Reality Publishing Co. banquet. It received the New Product of the Year prize and 20th Anniversary Legacy Award. Newport Beach-based dental products maker Sybron is being bought for $2 billion by Washington, D.C.-based tools maker Danaher Corp.
Dr. Frank L. Meyskens Jr., director of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCI Medical Center, received the American Society of Preventive Oncology’s Distinguished Achievement Award. Meyskens, who also is senior associate dean in the College of Health Sciences at University of California, Irvine, earned the award for his research contributions in cancer prevention during the past 30 years.
The Irvine Barclay Theatre received the 2005 Arts OC Outstanding Arts Organization Award. This is the second time the theatre has been given the honor.
Mission Viejo’s Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club was honored in the Zagat Survey 2006-07 America’s Top Golf Courses edition as one of 11 noteworthy newcomers in the country. Zagat rated it as the best value in Orange County, top five in the state and top 50 in the U.S. The guide is based on consumer surveys of golfers.
Newport Heights Elementary School won a grant from Albertson’s Inc. and the California Dietetic Association Foundation Childhood Obesity Awareness Project. It will go toward teaching kids about healthier eating and exercise habits.
About 29 partners from Rutan & Tucker LLP made the annual list of Southern California Super Lawyers. Super lawyers are recognized for their professional development and career achievement. They represent the top 5% of the area’s Bar Association membership.
The Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce was honored with two awards at the Western Association of Chamber Executives convention. The chamber received the Second Place award in the Newsletter Award category for Chambers with 1,000+ Members. The chamber also won First Place Overall in the 2005 Marketing Materials Award category.
Linda Martinelli, owner of Proforma Graphic PrintSource in Brea, received the 2006 International Franchise Association’s Franchisee of the Year Award.
Dana Point councilman Jim Lacy was honored with the American Association of Political Consultants’ Pollie award. Lacy, managing partner of Laguna-based law firm Wewer & Lacy LLP, received the award in connection with his representation of the the association and the U.S. Postal Service to help reduce the cost of political campaigning.
RBF Consulting in Irvine was awarded the 2005 Employer Recognition Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers, OC. RBF also was recognized this year as the Best Firm to Work For in the nation by Civil Engineering News magazine.
The Jamboree Housing Corp. won Developer of the Year at the 2005 Affordable Housing Awards hosted by the OC Community Housing Corp., the Affordable Housing Clearinghouse and the Kennedy Commission. Along with the award, Jamboree Housing was recognized by the House of Representatives with a certificate of special congressional recognition for commitment, service and contribution to low-income families in OC.
Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics’ plant in Garden Grove received the Compagnie de Saint-Gobain Diamond international safety award. The awards are given annually to the Saint-Gobain manufacturing plants with the best safety performance.
Cal State University Fullerton’s dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science Raman Unnikrishnan was honored by the University of Missouri-Columbia with the 2006 Missouri Honor Award for Distinguished Service in Engineering.
The National Human Resources Association presented Theresa Gianfortune, vice president of human resources at Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange, with the Compassionate Excellence Award. Gianfortune was one of five finalists, from a selection of more than 700 senior executives from OC.
Tim Rush, who oversees sales and business development for First American SMS’ Software Solutions Group in Orange, was awarded the Certified Mortgage Technologist designation by CampusMBA, the educational arm of the Mortgage Bankers Association. First American SMS is a unit of Santa Ana’s First American Corp.
The lift trucks of Irvine-based Toyota Material Handling USA Inc. were named No. 1 in quality and value by an independent survey conducted by Reed Research Group. This is the second year Toyota has won in the categories.
