New retirees reception

UC Davis’ 2008-09 retirees are invited to a reception set for June 15 at the University Club. The event is for anyone who has retired since last July, or who will retire by the end of this month, from the Davis or Sacramento campuses.

The Retirees Association is hosting the reception, which is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. This is the first event of its kind, and organizers say they plan to make it an annual affair.The Retiree Center, which is helping to coordinate the reception, announced that Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Enrique Lavernia will be on hand to congratulate the retirees. Also due to speak are Edward Callahan, associate dean for Academic Personnel in the School of Medicine, and Robert Chason, retired chief executive officer of the UC Davis Health System.

Reservations can be arranged online, retireecenter.ucdavis.edu, or by contacting the Retiree Center at (530) 752-5182 or retireecenter@ucdavis.edu.

The Retirees Association sponsors educational and social programs, provides information, and advocates on behalf of UC Davis and UCDHS retirees. Membership information will be available at the reception.

Distinguished teaching

The Academic Senate has chosen its Distinguished Teaching Award recipients for 2008-09, although a ceremony will not take place until next year.

The honorees for undergraduate teaching are Liz Applegate, nutrition; Judy Callis, molecular and cellular biology; and Motohico Mulase, mathematics.

In the graduate-professional category, the honorees are Marc Blanchard, comparative literature; Ines Hernandez-Avila, Native American studies; and Mark Lee, orthopedic surgery.

A senate committee presented the names to the Representative Assembly last week, and the delegates ratified the choices by acclamation.

Stewart teams with USO

UC Davis men’s basketball coach Gary Stewart is participating for a second year in a row in an overseas tour with the USO, joining other coaches in putting on clinics for U.S. troops.

The United Service Organizations calls the tour Operation Hoop Talk: Talking Hoops With the Troops.

Stewart, head coach at UC Davis for six years, departed June 7, eventually bound for the Persian Gulf, the athletics department announced. Before going abroad, he and the other coaches were scheduled to visit injured troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md.

Stewart visited troops in Kuwait and Iraq during last year’s Operation Hoop Talk.

This year’s tour “is another great opportunity to say ‘thank you’ and show my appreciation to the men and women who courageously sacrifice so much to protect our country,” Stewart said. “I’m delighted and humbled to be selected again and I look forward to another enriching experience.”

The USO sponsors similar tours focused on golf (Operation Links) and football (Operation Gridiron).

Blood drive June 24-25

ASUCD and BloodSource want to see you on the Quad on June 24 or 25. More specifically, they want to see you donating blood in one of the BloodSource vans that will be parked along the Quad’s west side.

Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Organizers said every participant will receive a coupon for a free pint of ice cream.