MEDIA RELEASE
Actress, Radio Show Host and NASA Executive
to Receive CSUN’s Highest Alumni Awards
(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., March 26, 2007) — Cal State Northridge’s 2008 Distinguished Alumni Awards will be presented on Saturday, April 26, to three luminaries in the fields of stage, broadcast radio and aerospace.
This year’s honorees include actress and author Teri Garr, nationally syndicated "Handel on the Law" radio host Bill Handel, and Adriana Ocampo Uria, an executive with NASA’s Science Mission Program. The awards will be presented during a special dinner at the CBS Studio Center Backlot in Studio City.
The Distinguished Alumni Awards pay tribute to those whose achievements place them at the pinnacle of their professions.
"There’s no better way to judge a university’s quality than to see how successful its alumni have become," said D.G. "Gray" Mounger, assistant vice president of CSUN’s alumni relations. “The current and past recipients of the Cal State Northridge Distinguished Alumni Award are among the nation's very best in almost every profession or field of endeavor."
Known for her ditzy comedic roles, Garr began her career as a background dancer in Elvis Presley movies while attending Cal State Northridge in 1964. She made her screen debut in a Jack Nicholson-scripted film entitled "Head." Soon after, Garr’s career took flight as she became the kooky, yet charming, actress America grew to love.
In 2002, Garr informed the public of her ongoing battle with multiple sclerosis (MS). Since her announcement, she has become a leading advocate in raising awareness and exploring the latest treatments for the disease. She is a spokesperson for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and national chair for the society’s Women Against MS program.
Handel has been educating the public on law for more than two decades through his radio show "Handel on the Law." His unique brand of humor when answering legal questions put him on the map in radio entertainment, eventually earning him the Marconi Radio Award. Handel received his bachelor’s of political science from Cal State Northridge in 1973. He received his juris doctor from Whittier College of Law, where he later taught as a professor. Since then, Handel has helped more than a million people with legal issues.
Uria started out as a research scientist for Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1973. In 1988, she was appointed to work in the Washington headquarters of NASA as a program executive for space science missions. Uria has played an integral part in the Juno Mission to Jupiter and the Venus Express collaborative mission with the European Space Agency.
Uria completed her bachelor’s in geology at Cal State Los Angeles and later, in 1997, earned her master’s in science of geology at Cal State Northridge with a thesis on the Chicxulub impact crater. Her thesis has inspired many lectures that have been presented at numerous universities and professional meetings.
In 1987 she organized a course in Planetary Sciences that was taught in Mexico City under the sponsorship of The Planetary Society. This course was the first of its kind designed for disseminating planetary science to developing countries.
Tickets for CSUN’s Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner are $100 per person. For tickets or more information, call (818) 677-2137 or visit www.csunalumni.com.