UCI scholar joins National Academy of Medicine; free speech event recap

Oct. 9, 2023

Students wearing red hard hats, carrying aeroponic vegetable planters on a roof

UCI students competing in the Orange County Sustainability Decathlon carry aeroponic vegetable planters to the roof of their model home at the OC Fairgrounds. This week, the decathlon runs Thursday through Sunday. (Photo: Steve Zylius/UCI)

UCI ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS

UCI scholar elected to National Academy of Medicine

Julian Thayer, a Distinguished Professor of psychological science, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest distinctions accorded to professionals in the medical sciences, healthcare and public health. He is one of 100 new members announced today. The academy chose Thayer for his groundbreaking research and theory on how stress, including racism, impacts autonomic nervous system dynamics and influences disease and the process of aging. Specifically, he mapped out how stress-related dysregulation of the vagal-neural axis can lead to early cardiovascular disease. Thayer is the seventh UCI member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Video recap: Year of Free Speech kickoff event

The First Amendment, academic freedom and free speech were on the agenda last Thursday during UCI’s Year of Free Speech kickoff event. “I have learned that the meaning of free speech and academic freedom is not self-evident to most people,” said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman in introductory remarks. “These values must be taught and reflected on, discussed and debated – not just by experts, but by the entire university community.” Toward that end, Gillman was followed (at minute 9 in the video recording of the event) by a three-person panel from the UCI community (a student leader, arts dean and staff official) discussing their views of free speech. Then (at minute 37) Michelle Deutchman, executive director of the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement, gave a rundown on the law regarding hate speech, the First Amendment and related topics.

EVENTS

Virtual Fall Career Fair (via Handshake)
Wednesday, 10 a.m. (sponsored by Division of Career Pathways)

Bien Educado: Raising Latine Children to Thrive - Distinguished Lecture with Gustavo Carlo
Wednesday, 11 a.m. (sponsored by School of Education)

Beyond the Book Author Series: Build Smart: A Blueprint for Building A High-Performing Organization - Simon Taylor
Wednesday, noon (sponsored by Division of Continuing Education)

Live-Online LSAT Strategy Workshop
Wednesday, 6 p.m. (sponsored by Division of Continuing Education)

Visit today.uci.edu to see and submit event listings. Events of general interest will be shared in UCI Digest two days before they occur.

#UCICONNECTED

Ph.D. candidate wins equity and inclusion fellowship

Claudia Valencia-Uribe has been accepted for the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management’s 2023 Equity & Inclusion Fellowship, which was created in 2016 to encourage participation in association activities by underrepresented students. Valencia-Uribe is about halfway through her five-year quest to receive her urban planning and public policy doctorate. The APPAM fellowship folds in with her research into how certain people can experience lingering effects long after severe climate conditions such as drought are declared over. Receiving the fellowship “acknowledges that there is a lot we can learn from communities like mine that for far too long have been left out of the conversation,” Valencia-Uribe says.

#UCIconnected spotlights student, alumni, faculty and staff photos, essays, shoutouts, hobbies, artwork, unusual office decorations, activities and more. Send submissions via email or post on social media with the #UCIconnected hashtag.

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