The UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative Eudaimonia Award is an annual award to recognize members of the UCLA community, past or present, who exemplify Eudaimonia by living a life full of purpose and meaning. The UCLA HCI Eudaimonia Society highlights members of the UCLA community who, through their immense personal efforts, inspire others to seek Eudaimonic well-being.
2023 Eudaimonia Award Nominations are Now Open
What is Eudaimonia?
Aristotle distinguished hedonia, the brief, fleeting happiness derived from immediate satisfaction of drives, from eudaimonia, the sustained happiness that comes from living a life rich in purpose and meaning.
Core concepts of Eudaimonia include:
- Generosity
- Resilience and overcoming hardship
- Selflessness
- Dedication to the common good and society at large
- Inspirational
- Commitment to long-term goals in the face of obstacles
To learn more: Read Q&A with Dr. Joseph Raho, Clinical Ethicist at UCLA Health.
Award Description
The Semel Healthy Campus Initiative (HCI) Eudaimonia Award is an annual recognition award given to a member of the UCLA community past or present who exemplifies a life full of purpose and meaning.
This year our theme is: “AWE – Connecting to the Greater Good” which is to acknowledge UCLA community members who exemplify this theme, have committed to bringing good to society, and who build up community members through care, service and advocacy.
The 2023 Eudaimonia Award recipient will be honored on April 20th, 2023 (More details to come).
Eligibility
All members of the UCLA community- including alumni, students, staff, and faculty- are eligible for nomination. Nominations may be made posthumously. You may not nominate yourself for the Eudaimonia Award.
Nomination Process
The Deadline for Nomination Submissions have been EXTENDED. Nominations for the 2023 Eudaimonia Award are NOW OPEN. Nominations are due March 3rd, 2023.
Complete the nomination form here!
Awards Selection Committee Sign Ups
Sign up to be a part of the 2023 Eudaimonia awards selection committee.
Complete the Awards Selection Committee form here!
UCLA Eudaimonia Awardee Spotlight: Jeremy Zimmett
Eudaimonia Society Members
Eudaimonia In the News
Explore TEDxUCLA Talks on Eudaimonia
Redefine Happiness: The Brain Bases of Eudaimonia with Dr. Robert Bilder
How brain research suggests that the keys to eudaimonic well-being involves a strong commitment of effort to actions aligned with long-term values.
Attempt the Impossible with Dr. Bruce Chorpita
A breadth of findings from the science of learning, memory, and cognition align with principles in athletics to show the importance of effort and challenging one’s self.
2022 Eudaimonia Event & Speaker
Awardees
Annalea Forrest (she/they) is a graduate student receiving a Master of Social Welfare and a Master of Public Health. Annalea is the founder of Forrest Collective & REACH (Rural Education Access for Community Health), a holistic health care organization which connects BIPOC & low-income community members in rural and urban areas to preventive & integrative mental health care. Annalea is a BGS scholar, providing representation and advocacy on campus as a graduate of the foster care system. Annalea has conducted research at UCLA with the UCLA Prison Education Program, conducted research on spatial and racial justice at Semel HCI, engaged in national tribal health outreach and volunteer health education, and independently volunteers in Skid Row providing health education and active listening. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Annalea worked with violence survivors at the organization, Peace Over Violence as a clinical therapist and as a crisis responder on the LA Rape & Battering Hotline. as well as provided therapy to new parents with postpartum depression at UCLA Health Medical Center. Annalea is a recipient of the 2020 Public Health Advocacy Fellowship and 2020 Child & Family Health Excellence Fellowship.
“Listening is Leadership”
Kyra Young (she/her) is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kyra’s Shea Medleys, encouraging self-care. She donated over 6,000 products to local nonprofits and community causes that seek to end homelessness, breast cancer awareness, youth leadership and development. Kyra advocates for social justice, provides education on college access and retention, and fosters creativity of those from underserved communities. She also works with the UCLA Black Alumni Association, and mentors multiple upcoming entrepreneurs within the beauty industry via the Thrive Scholars (formerly South Central Scholars) Alumni Association.
“My education did not begin in a classroom and it certainly won’t end there.” ― Kyra Young
Dr. Wendy Slusser (she/her) is the Associate Vice Provost of the Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Center and a Clinical Professor at the UCLA Schools of Medicine and Public Health. She was a Pediatrician and Educator for UCLA Pediatric Residents for 20 years at the Venice Family Clinic. Dr. Slusser is known for her inclusive, collaborative leadership of Semel HCI spearheading health equity through promotion of physical, social & emotional well-being at UCLA, the UC system, statewide & nationally. Her outstanding leadership for the UC Global Food Initiative inspired the establishment of the UC Healthy Campus Network, based on the successes of Semel HCI. As an impactful co-leader of the UC Healthy Campus Network, Dr. Slusser led efforts to integrate health equity into the UC system with initiatives such as UC Diabetes Prevention Program, the UC Sustainable Practices Policy, Healthy Vending Initiative, and Healthy Beverages Initiative. In addition, she led the Campus Recovery and Response Task Force’s Wellness & Work Expectations Work Group to ensure the UCLA community’s well-being issues were addressed and included in the campus plans to respond to operational changes required during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, she is an advocate for healthy food for young children in LA schools and was a PI on the Fruit and Vegetable Bar Intervention study that inspired national legislation & former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Salad Bar to Schools.
“This is a wonderful day I have never seen this one before.” ― Maya Angelou
Lisa Lee (she/her) is a Graduate Advising Supervisor & Graduate Student Affairs Officer at the UCLA Department of Psychology. She is a selfless advocate for students, promoting mental, physical, financial, and academic well-being, while also an incredible resource to faculty and staff. Lisa has supported students coping with health and mental health problems, family emergencies and loss, and a range of academic challenges from the routine to serious. She navigated the new challenges brought on for students in the Department of Psychology during the pandemic in a generous and tireless manner.
Featured 2022 Eudaimonia Awardee Speaker
Dr. Medell K. Briggs-Malonson
Dr. Medell Briggs-Malonson is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and Chief of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for the UCLA Hospital and Clinic System. She is a critical member of the UCLA Health community working to promote diversity, equity, and inclusivity among staff, patients, and beyond. Throughout her career, Dr. Medell has seeked creative and collaborative ways to redesign the healthcare system to advance health equity particularly within diverse communities.
As someone with a plethora of experience within the world of academia and healthcare, she has become a nationally recognized speaker, advisor as well as a best-selling author. She has been awarded the 2015 Top Healthcare Professionals Under 40 from the National Medical Association, 2021 25 Under 45 from EMRA, and the Los Angeles Dodgers 2021 Healthcare All-Star.
Dr. Briggs-Malonson holds an undergraduate degree from UCLA, MD from Harvard Medical School, MPH from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a MSHS from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. At Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, she completed her emergency medicine residency training and served as chief resident.
Source: https://www.uclahealth.org/providers/medell-briggs-malonson
Meet the Eudaimonia Society Members
Dr. Esteban Aguayo (he/him) is a Surgical Resident at Harbor-UCLA. He has provided underserved communities with health education and screening services via Latinxs/Chicanxs for Community Medicine (LCCM). Dr. Aguayo’s work serves vulnerable communities in the Los Angeles county as a physician-in-training. He also provides mentorship, support and guidance to pre-health students at all levels.
“The opposite of poverty is not wealth. In too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice.”
Michael Beck (he/him) is the UCLA Administrative Vice Chancellor. His organization provides the foundation that enables our students, faculty, and staff to succeed. He tries to understand the needs of the community, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael has led the campuswide effort to support campus safety during the pandemic. He also creates a culture of caring for his team through initiatives like Thank You Thursdays, hand written notes, listening sessions (On Deck with Michael Beck), and supportive training opportunities. He also reinforces campus values and develops a culture of caring through the True Bruin Values Awards and Beckfast events.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
Dr. Agustina Bertone (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry. She provides culturally-responsive and trauma-informed care to mediate the intergenerational transmission of trauma from parent to their infant, and creates a nurturing place for medical teams to come together and share their experiences. Dr. Bertone is also a McNair mentor to undergraduates who are first generation college students, guiding them through the college process and supporting their growth to prepare them for graduate school. As a bilingual and bicultural psychologist, she is passionate about centering issues of social justice in her work and is an advocate for improving mental health service provision for marginalized communities.
“What we know matters, but who we are matters more.” ― Brene Brown
Stephanie Bottomley (she/her) is a Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Student, and an Undergraduate Clinical Researcher at the UCLA chapter – International Circle of Genetics Studies. She is also a counselor and mentor with Royal Family Kids Camp. Stephanie is known for her radical acts of kindness via directing a lost classmate around campus, hosting bible study, taking someone to the emergency room, or organizing celebratory dinners for a friend’s accomplishment. She lends an untimed, non judgemental listening ear to people going through difficult situations.
“Life is precarious, and life is precious. Don’t presume you will have it tomorrow and don’t waste it today.” ― John Piper
Maegan Sinclair Cortez (she/her) is the Director of Research & Evaluation at the UCLA Department of Psychiatry-Division of Population Behavioral Health. Maegan’s work involves implementing and evaluating behavioral health interventions for health care systems, schools and community organizations that aim to enhance the mental and physical well-being of individuals and families.
She is also an excellent leader and mentor of UCLA staff members and students around their future career goals and provision of access to trainings, professional development, and career growth opportunities. Maegan has boosted morale of staff in the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic through her selflessness and generosity. She also works with UCLA Health’s Center for Organizational Readiness and Education and utilizes their trainings for department-wide participation and creation of team bonding opportunities.
“And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”
Monica Done (she/her) is the Clinical Research Coordinator at the Center for the Assessment and Prevention of Prodromal States (CAPPS) at the Semel Institute. She advocates for underserved minority individuals and Spanish speaking families in mental health services. Monica is also an advocate for minorities to bring more awareness and inclusivity into the work at UCLA and creates a safe space for individuals with mental illnesses.
“Life is what you make it.”
Dr. Emnet Gammada (she/her) is a Clinical Geriatric Neuropsychology Fellow at the UCLA Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Dr. Gammada works to de-stigmatize mental health and feed wellness practices in the community – including churches, senior centers, local non-profit organizations, dementia-care networks, and neighborhood gatherings. She aims to create access to neuropsychology by sharing information on brain health in the community, and is studying the resilience and the resistance that aging requires and how to best support it.
“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”
Dr. Bill Resnick (he/him)
“You Can Always Begin Again”
Marissa Hong (she/her) is a senior Art major and Visual and Performing Arts Education minor at UCLA. She was the MindWell Undergraduate Pod Assistant and a Student Educator at the Hammer Museum. Marissa co-founded Art at the Park, a volunteer program to provide K-12 kids without art classes focused on mindfulness, community-building, and self-efficacy. She is currently helping create a mural for the non-profit organization InsideOUT Writers, which offers a creative writing community for formerly and currently incarcerated youth/young adults as well as those who have been system-impacted.
“c’est la vie”
2021 Eudaimonia Virtual Event & Speaker
Awardees
Lily Shaw was a UCLA Alumni, who sparked change in her community and empowered others to do the same. Lily was selected for her fearless advocacy around the increasing accessibility, community, and inclusivity of marginalized communities. While Lily is not here with us now, she is in our hearts and her legacy will continue to impact current and future UCLA generations.
Grant Cho is an undergraduate senior majoring in Sociology & Public Health. Grant was selected for his inspiring efforts in health mentorship, the empowerment of students, and his commitment to long-term goals in the face of obstacles. Grant is an example of how students can make a positive impact on the lives of many, both on and off-campus.
Featured 2021 Eudaimonia Awardee Speaker
Dr. Nicole Green
Dr. Nicole Green currently serves as the Executive Director of UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), the Campus Assault Resources and Education (CARE) program, the Resilience In your Student Experience (RISE) Center and is a Co-leader of the MindWell Pod. Nicole was selected for her endless generosity, extreme selflessness, and inspirational commitment to advocacy around equity, diversity, inclusion, and well-being on campus.
Dr. Green is a counseling psychologist who received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Southern California. She received her Ed.M. from Harvard University Graduate School of Education and her BA in Psychology from UCLA. Her areas of interest include student resilience and academic success, particularly among students of color, African American family issues, and sexual assault, and intimate partner violence issues. Dr. Green is actively involved in the Organization of California Counseling Center Directors in Higher Education (OCCDHE), the Association of University of College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD) and Southern California Association of Black Psychologists (SCABPsi). Dr. Green is the recipient of the Minority Fellowship Program Award from the American Psychological Association.
Meet the Eudaimonia Society Members
Kartik Raj is a UCLA alumni who was selected for his resilience through hardships and dedication to serving and assisting frontline communities. He founded Effective Altruism at UCLA to help students make the greatest impact possible in their personal choices and careers and volunteered for Mercy for Animals, first handing out flyers and later as an intern. He graduated with the department prize and decided to pursue a law degree to dedicate his life to justice for all the world’s people and animals. As a law student, Kartik specialized in Public Interest Law & Policy and Environmental Law, and through clinics and internships, he worked at the intersections of climate change, animal welfare, workers’ rights, and toxic waste pollution. He led the UCLA Animal Law Society and dedicated his free time to volunteering. Currently, he is an attorney at Earthjustice’s Community Partnerships Program, where he represents frontline communities in their fight for a safer, healthier, and more just environment.
Kit Spikings is a UCLA alumni who was selected for her generosity, resilience, and lifelong commitment to service & volunteering despite all obstacles. Throughout her tenure at UCLA, Kit made volunteering a priority. UCLA is a much better institution because of Kit’s long-term involvement in several programs. She also volunteers at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church as an After School Religious Education Teacher. When Kit retired in 2016, she increased her volunteering to seven days a week by adding the Venice Family Clinic and Belmont Senior Residence to her commitments. She continued to volunteer during COVID-19 and utilized her talents for the broader good.
Christina Read is a UCLA undergrad who was selected for her dedication to promoting health equity & student wellness on campus. As a dependable contributor to the Student Wellness Commission, Christina spearheaded countless programs and health-related events/campaigns on a variety of topics. She the first student health equity summer, which brought student leaders from all areas of campus together. She treats all with care and compassion, encourages those around her, and diligently serves in everything she does.
Nilou Varahram is a UCLA staff member who was selected for her selflessness, generosity, and commitment to the common good both on & off campus. Nilou successfully navigated her UCLA department through many changes during 2021, including working with a new CFO and Budget CEO Director. She provided a communication bridge for all parties on ‘UCLA’s best practices’ and is a steadfast advocate for the department of Nursing, ensuring all units have the resources needed to provide exemplary care to all patients. She is always available to bring different departments together to solve a work situation–even if it is outside of her own department.
2020 Eudaimonia Virtual Event & Speaker
Awardees
Michael Garafola was born in Staten Island, NY, and moved to LA in 1999. When he was young, he had a passion for sports and recreation, with the game of basketball being his true love. Tragically, at the age of 15, this life of an athlete came to a dramatic end as he was injured in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the mid-abdomen down. Almost 13 years later, this love for sports and specifically basketball was reborn as he became connected with an adaptive basketball league, which lead him to pursue his Therapeutic Recreation Certificate and was hired to run the Adaptive Program through UCLA Recreation. Michael helps UCLA students with disabilities discover the world of adaptive sports and co-founded the Angel City Games at UCLA, where athletes of all ages with various physical disabilities can try out new sports, compete at their current sports and learn from athletes competing at high levels.
Jeremy Zimmett is from the small community of Valley Center, CA, and is a current graduate student pursuing his master’s degree in Library and Information Sciences. During his time at UCLA, he has served on two different diversity councils, notably organizing a queer resource panel for all incoming graduate students. He has also served as a mentor for UCLA’s Graduate-Undergraduate Mentorship Program, a teaching associate for UCLA’s Academic Advancement Program, and as a board member for the Information Studies’ Student Governing Board. He has contributed greatly to the UCLA community by advocating for queer individuals, new students, first-generation students, and those who have been historically underrepresented in higher education.
Featured 2020 Eudaimonia Awardee Speaker
Dr. Kelly Lytle Hernandez
Dr. Kelly Lytle Hernandez is the Eudaimonia 2020 Featured Speaker Awardee due to her commitment to social justice and contribution to the UCLA community. Dr.Hernandez is a professor of History, African American Studies, and Urban Planning at UCLA where she holds The Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History. She is also the Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA. One of the nation’s leading experts on race, immigration, and mass incarceration, she is the author of the award-winning books, Migra! A History of the U.S. Border Patrol (University of California Press, 2010), and City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles (University of North Carolina Press, 2017). City of Inmates recently won the 2018 James Rawley Prize from the Organization of American Historians, 2018 Athearn Prize from the Western Historical Association, the 2018 John Hope Franklin Book Prize from the American Studies Association, and the 2018 American Book Award. Currently, Professor Lytle Hernandez is the Director and Principal Investigator for Million Dollar Hoods, a university-based, community-driven research project that maps the fiscal and human cost of mass incarceration in Los Angeles. The Million Dollar Hoods team won a 2018 Freedom Now! Award from the Los Angeles Community Action Network. For her leadership on the Million Dollar Hoods team, Professor Lytle Hernandez was awarded the 2018 Local Hero Award from KCET/PBS and the 2019 Catalyst Award from the South L.A. parent/student advocacy organization, CADRE. In 2019, Professor Lytle Hernandez was named a James D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow for her historical and contemporary work.
Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Janet Napolitano
Meet the Eudaimonia Society Members
Tracy Lahey is a recent graduate, receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology & Society with minors in Public Health and Environmental Systems and was a co-GSR for the MoveWell pod of the Healthy Campus Initiative. Some of her proudest contributions to the UCLA community is the work she was able to accomplish with HCI. She was able to widely promote movement through the MoveWell pod to a diverse array of UCLA community members as a means of achieving wellbeing in physical as well as mental health.
Anna Guzman is a Mexican-American, First Gen College Graduate who received her B.A. from UCLA in 2001. She currently is the director of student services at the UCLA School of Dentistry, where she strives to enhance and create an enjoyable student experience by actively seeking out resources to ease the stress of dental school. Anna is passionate about mental health and works with CAPS and the Behavioral Wellness Center to provide support to students for stress management and is inspired by the “pay it forward” mentality, which drives her to assure access to needed resources.
Nikita Gupta, MPH, CHES, RYT is a passionate and dedicated resilience educator, mentor, and program innovator who has served diverse populations for over 20 years to promote personal and community healing, upliftment, and hope. She serves as a facilitator at the UCLA RISE center and is the founding director of the UCLA GRIT Coaching Program. As a first-generation Indo-American, Nikita has navigated various barriers to arrive at a place of serving others through healing-centered practices and somatic coaching that serves the whole-person toward personal leadership and thriving and works with numerous diverse populations to help uplift individuals and communities toward thriving and joy.
Natalie Sin is originally from Fremont, CA and recently graduated with her B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Education Studies. During her time at UCLA, she was involved in various on-campus organizations, including; New Student & Transition Programs (NSTP), Student Alumni Association (SAA), Academic & Student Services Peer Learning (AS2PL), ACA Hip Hop, Korean Culture Night, Foundations Choreography, the Equity & Access Studies in Education (EASE) Project, and Unicamp. Service and community engagement are a means for her to elicit my life philosophy of loving yourself through loving others and loving others through loving yourself.
Meredith “Mer” Curry graduated from UCLA in 2004 with a B.A. in English and was active on campus, building communities with Samahang and SPEAR, dancing with Samahang Modern, participating in AAP, and working as a GEAR UP and EAOP Advisor in middle and high schools across Los Angeles County. Today, she is an operations and nonprofit consultant with a passion and deep focus on college and career access and success here in California. To further her commitment to her work and support and enhance the work of her clients, she volunteers and sits on multiple advisor boards, advocating for equitable access to college for intersectional, underrepresented communities, in which she finds a passion for social justice and a life of purpose.
Kimberley Gomez, Professor, School of Education and Information Studies centers her work in examining teachers’ and students’ development and use of literate practices to enhance learning in mathematics, science, and technology use with an aim of informing theoretical and practical understandings. Since 2011, Gomez has been the lead language and literacy fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and has received multiple awards for her work including, but not limited to, Distinguished Teaching Award from UCLA’s Graduate School of Education in 2017. Gomez aims to be someone who sees people beyond their credentials and achievements, but as whole people who carry life stories, challenges, opportunities, and creativity in their hearts and minds, which inspires her in her work towards social justice.
Jenny Wang is a Psychobiology student who is also Resident Assistant (RA) on the Hill, a camp counselor for UCLA Unicamp, an ESL tutor through Project SPELL, and an active member of Asian Pacific American Health Care—an organization dedicated to serving uninsured, linguistically-isolated Asian communities across LA County. In her role as an RA, she is dedicated to helping students find a balance between course work, job responsibilities, extracurricular activities, and taking care of their physical, mental, social, and emotional needs and cultivates a community in which residents feel safe, supported, and included. She also gives back to the UCLA community through her work in Project SPELL, where she supports dining, maintenance, and facilities management employees improve their English skills and translate for community health fairs, both deeply personal experiences for her.
Riley Mummah was born and raised in the central of Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing a concurrent degree of an MS in Epidemiology and a Ph.D. in Ecology. At UCLA, she focuses on relationship building and supporting others as core contributions to the UCLA community and social justice. She does her best to make people feel seen, heard, and valued as she believes this is the root of social justice as relationships are the key to social change.
Chantra Nhien was born and raised in Long Beach, California. Chantra is currently a Ph.D. student in the Higher Education & Organizational Change program within the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. His research focuses on the experiences of first-year STEM students, with a special interest in underrepresented students within STEM. His motivation and resilience stems from the hardships that his parents endured as they escaped the war in Cambodia in the early 1980s and hopes to contribute to improving the equitable experiences of college students and, by extension, improve systems of higher education through his research.
Bonny Bentzin is Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer at UCLA. Bonny is a key member of the leadership team for sustainability at UCLA, helping manage sustainability across the university and working to foster partnerships among academic, research, and operational departments to create a world-class living laboratory for sustainability. Bonny is a hyper observer and problem solver whose energy comes from identifying and leveraging underutilized resources, connecting previously unconnected groups or people to step out of the box for innovative solutions. Her vision and energy has lead multiple sustainability efforts for the UCLA community, across the U.S. and internationally.
Patricia Nguyen is a UCLA staff member. She is committed to social justice and advocacy by supporting marginalized and underrepresented communities. She provides pathways for alumni to navigate the institution with ease and grant accessibility for partnerships with the greater campus. By serving others, she has had a profound effect on those who work with her and implements true solidarity and belonging to further strengthen the community at large.
2019 TEDxUCLA Salon & Eudaimonia Awards
Awardees
Kryssia Campos-Silva is a 2013 UCLA alumna and previous staff member at CAPS. Kryssia migrated from El Salvador at 13 years old, and as a queer immigrant, has used her own experiences and challenges to improve the lives of others. As a student, she was involved with the AB540 Project mentoring undocumented high school students in South LA.
Featured 2019 Eudaimonia Awardee Speaker
Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Quincy Jones
Eudaimonia Society Members
Ed McCloskey tirelessly served the UCLA community as the Director of the Center of Accessible Education (CAE) at UCLA for many years. At CAE and the Office of Students with Disabilities (OSD), Ed always made sure incoming and prospective students with disabilities believed they could flourish on campus. He oversaw all of CAE and always made time for students in need. He learned some ASL to communicate with Deaf students and guests. He oversaw housing appeals and ensured that disabled students were expertly accommodated and continuously supported students through tragedies and triumphs. A quadriplegic student said Ed immediately took action when his UCLA apartment bathroom wasn’t accessible. Another student said she would go into Ed’s office crying and always come out relieved. On August 5, 2014, while biking home from UCLA, Ed got hit by an SUV. He was in a coma for 6 weeks and in hospital for 14 weeks because of his Cranial Nerve #3 damage. Ed was back to work less than 6 months after his accident, still suffering from his injuries, but he didn’t let that stop him from serving UCLA’s disabled population.
Jenessa Shapiro passed away in 2019 after a years-long fight against breast cancer. She was one of those people with an inner light you could see. One constant in her life was a desire to elevate others, and she demonstrated this in myriad ways. As a junior faculty member in Psychology, she recognized the holes in our graduate training and created a professional socialization seminar for doctoral students, which students continue to regard with gratitude. As a scholar, she devoted her work single-mindedly toward identifying and eliminating the barriers that inhibit members of underrepresented minorities from fulfilling their potential. As a colleague, she was generous, positive, and collaborative. She was present and eager to contribute even when she did not have to be. And after she got sick, she remained all of those things. As serious as it became, she never let her disease define her. When she lost her hair due to chemotherapy, she bought a variety of wigs, including a bright pink one. Despite her illness, she continued to show up to contribute to the UCLA community, paler but shining just as bright. She remains an inspiration.
Katherine Brown-Saltzman‘s background is in clinical nursing and life is rich in meaning and purpose. She began working in end-of-life care with pediatric cancer patients in Boston in 1975. Katherine literally “lives for others” as an advocate for their well-being. For example, in the ’70s and ’80s, patients were routinely resuscitated, even when CPR was known to be medically futile; Katherine pushed against such an approach in order to make the final moments of patients’ lives the most pain-free as possible. In 1992, she created a renewal retreat, Circle of Caring, for healthcare professionals, which is an experiential weekend of self-care that continues to encourage professionals to assume an ethical practice of sustainability. As Co-Founder of the Ethics of Caring, Katherine has established a non-profit that has been providing annual ethics conferences to southern California since 1993. Over the last 15 years of her career, Katherine transitioned to clinical ethics. She is co-director of the UCLA Ethics Center. Her unique approach is based on an “Ethics of Care,” which focuses on the unique individual patient situated in a web of relationships and personal meaning. She has been active in developing interdisciplinary programs on sustaining self-care, moral distress, and ethics education.
Kayla Jahangiri perfectly represents the spirit of eudaimonia and being incredibly well-rounded. As a global studies major who graduated in only 3 years, she is incredibly driven academically, but also deeply committed to philanthropy and improving the lives of all human beings. In her time as the philanthropy chair for the Bruin Belles Service Association and with her philanthropy organization that she privately runs, she has been deeply committed to organizing countless events and drives to raise materials and funds to support women’s education in Iran and several philanthropies around Los Angeles. She has incredibly positive relations with nearly everyone she meets and truly pushes herself and others to be better and achieve more. After graduation, she intends to focus on law school studies. She constantly teaches those around her about personal growth and improving every aspect of life.
Michael Eselun shares his gifts of presence, compassion, and wisdom with the oncology patients he spends time with as a Simms/Mann Center chaplain as well as with his fellow staff members. He is just as eager to learn from others as he is to share of himself. He seeks out opportunities both in his work and in the community to be of service and collaborate for the betterment of humanity. His openness to life and what it has to offer is remarkable. He exemplifies and personifies constructs like kindness, openness, humility, and love. Michael is a Chaplain by training, but more than that he is a top-notch human who enters people’s lives at incredibly difficult moments. He has an epic heart, a desire to live and grow and feel this life for all of its complexity and he brings the people he meets along for the ride in a way that is notable and impressive.
Valeria Ramirez is there for anyone who ever needs her and values human interaction above all else. She aspires to work as a counselor in a prison even though most people discourage her from such a potentially dangerous job. She cares about the lives of the people in her community and is pursuing a degree in sociology in order to help others. She has faced many trials in her life surrounding tough medical decisions involving her physical and mental health. Although she often suffers spells of anxiety she is always positive and does not see herself as any less simply because she experiences things differently. From a low-income neighborhood and a less-than-advantaged high school, she made it all the way to UCLA. She mastered the art of independence by pushing herself from school to school until she made it to her own dorm in LA. She always pushes herself to be better and what other people see as “hard work” is just her going through each day and not wasting a minute of opportunity. She is so full of emotion and jubilance, and she stands her ground and makes a statement through her work in classes and conversations with others. She doesn’t stand back and wait for things to happen, she steps forward and makes them happen.
2018 TEDXUCLA on Altruism & Eudaimonia Awards
Awardee
Louis Tse is a 2016 UCLA alumni of the Mechanical Engineering PHD program. In order to fulfill his desire to provide shelter for students at UCLA experiencing homelessness, Louis Tse lived out of his car so he could use his rent money to establish Bruin Shelter, which launched in fall 2016. Bruin Shelter is the first shelter in the nation that is completely student run and exclusively for individuals pursuing a degree in higher education. As a student, Louis dedicated his free time to building community on the UCLA campus, forging partnerships between student organizations such as Swipe Out Hunger and building connections with students in the Fielding School of Public Health, so the shelter could become a safe haven for 10-12 students per quarter. While also working as a thermal engineer at NASA, Louis remains actively involved in Bruin Shelter as the Executive Director, working to expand the facility to accommodate more students and build the pool of resources needed to sustain its growth. Inspired by a lifetime of volunteering, Louis represents a blend of Bruin optimism and innovation.
Featured 2018 Eudaimonia Awardee Speaker
Dr. Peter Whybrow
Dr. Peter Whybrow is a Distinguished Professor and Executive Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and CEO of the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA. Dr. Whybrow has spent much of his scholarly career focusing on how we make meaning, purpose, and happiness in contemporary societies and cultures. His two most recent books (American Mania: When More is Not Enough and The Well Tuned Brain: Neuroscience and the Life Well-Lived) focus on the importance of currying peace and purpose in an increasingly bewildering, technologically obsessed culture. Perhaps most important, The Well-Tuned Brain offers a clear call to action that emphasizes the critical value of social connectedness, and purpose-driven action towards long-term goals that are the hallmarks of Eudaimonic wellbeing.
Meet the Eudaimonia Society Members
Josh O’Connor is the Assistant Director for UCLA Residential Life, co-curator of TEDxUCLA, and co-advisor of the Housing Government program. Through these many positions, Josh cultivates student’s appreciation for health, education, wellbeing, and confidence and teaches them skills that will help students reciprocate those goals to others. Using laughter, authenticity, and generosity, Josh works as a mentor to many to ensure his peers stay both mentally engaged and personally fulfilled.
Mackenzie Clay is a PHD student in the school of Engineering. After a wrestling accident in high school, Mackenzie showed perseverance in overcoming new physical limitations including learning to play wheelchair rugby and following his dreams of becoming a professor. Mackenzie continues to astound his fellow students with his kindness including opening up his home to a fellow student when the Skirball fire hit to provide shelter and support.
Madison Feldman is a third year undergraduate student at UCLA studying Geography with a double minor in Geospatial Information Systems and conservation biology. As the Healthy Campus Initiative undergraduate coordinator and an active member of the jane b. semel Healthy Campus Initiative garden, Madison actively supports the needs of her fellow students sharing her enthusiasm, positivity, and passion.
Ryan Arroyo is a 2007 UCLA Alumni who beautifully exemplifies purpose in life and personal growth through his personal journey of overcoming a traumatic challenge. After a severe car accident four years ago, Ryan overcame grueling months of recovery, rehabilitation, weight gain and mental trauma and faced it head on with an inspirational and positive spirit to heal and help others. Ryan is now a thriving and healthy fit man who shares his experience with others and participates in Spartan races and cross fit fitness competitions for charities. Ryan took his personal struggle as a lesson for living every day to its fullest and always championing the power of the human will.
Andrew Nicholls is a 2013 UCLA Alumni. In 10 years of army service in Iraq and Afghanistan for 10 years, Andrew earned many leadership awards and medals. Devastated after his combat experience – where he lost friends, suffered personal injury and trauma, Andrew grew to teach a course at UCLA called “Fast Cars and Battle Scars” on what it is like being trained to kill, to be in combat, and face reentry into society. Andrew is a now a licensed social worker who works at the VA providing services to vets and a new father. Andrew exemplifies resilience and a life of meaning and purpose. A hero in more ways than one, Andrew is someone who found meaning and purpose by caring for others here at UCLA.
Neil Reichline
2017 TEDXUCLA & Eudaimonia Awards
Awardee
Meb Keflezighi is the 2017 inaugural recipient of the UCLA Eudaimonia award and inaugural Eudaimonia Society member. The year after the Boston Marathon bombing, Meb Keflezighi stunned the world by entering the competition and becoming the oldest man (at age 40) to win the event. Keflezighi is an Eritrean refugee, four-time US Olympian, winner of the 2009 New York City Marathon, and a four-time NCAA Champion with the UCLA Track & Field team.
The Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Center at UCLA is envisioned and supported by Jane and Terry Semel.
