At UCLA’s doctoral hooding ceremony on June 11, the UCLA Medal — the campus’s highest honor — was presented to alumna Shirley Malcom, the director of education and human resources programs for the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The medal is presented to those of exceptionally distinguished academic and professional achievement whose work embodies UCLA’s highest ideals.
Malcom’s commitment to increasing diversity in academia led her to previous positions as a member of the National Science Board, the policymaking body of the National Science Foundation, and on former president Bill Clinton’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology. She is widely known as a champion of public science literacy. Her work has fostered access and broadened opportunities for careers, mentorship and leadership for girls, women, underrepresented minorities and the next generation of scientists.
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Scott Waugh presented the medal to Malcom in front of nearly 800 students receiving their doctoral degrees.
Malcom received her M.S. in zoology from UCLA in 1967, and in addition to her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University, her inspirational work has since earned her 16 honorary degrees.
Past recipients of the UCLA Medal include several Nobel laureates, President Clinton, basketball coach John Wooden, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, and UCLA alumna and astronaut Anna Lee Fisher.
