Each year, the UCLA Anderson School of Management honors the memory of Abraham Ackerman, who worked for the school for more than 40 years, with the Abraham Ackerman Staff Excellence Award. Recipients are noted for their dedication and service to the school. The 2014 recipient is Amjad Ezzour, a student-affairs officer in the Fully Employed MBA office. Ezzour received the honor in a Korn Hall ceremony that included a keynote talk by UCLA head gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos Field.
In addition to the presentation of the Ackerman Award, the ceremony also included the presentation of three Mary and Pete Petersen Staff Enrichment Awards. The recipients of the Petersen staff enrichment awards are Deborah Shin (FEMBA program), Kate Ceredona (Ziman Center) and Damaris Aguirre (Staff Personnel). Mary Petersen worked at UCLA Anderson for 40 years, starting her career as a switchboard operator. In 2012, she and her husband Pete donated $100,000 to support staff development and enrichment.
Dean Judy Olian opened the afternoon ceremony by thanking everyone for the work they do representing the school. “You are the face for us,” she said. “You are Anderson. You are UCLA — maybe for the entirety of that person’s experience.”
She then introduced Kondos Field, who has been the Bruins’ head coach since 1991. Kondos Field gave a run down of what she called “UCLA Gymnastics 101,” three lessons she imparts to all her student-athletes. “Life is one big fat audacious adventure,” she said, as well as “life is not good or bad—it’s just life” and “every single thing we do in life is a choice.”
She wrapped up her talk by also thanking the staff and reminding them of how she looks at life at UCLA. “I think it’s important that we all remember we’re all family at the most respected educational and athletic intuition in the world,” she said.
See more great photos of the event by awesome staff photographer Aaron Schasse at Flickr.
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