Note to editors: See calendar listing below. For Alejandro Briseño’s complete biography, go to http://www.pse.umass.edu/abriseno/.
Honors for 3,500 high-achieving students at Cal State L.A.
Presidential honoree to keynote CSULA’s 52nd annual Honors Convocation
Los Angeles, CA – Alejandro (Alex) Briseño, a recipient of the 2012 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, will return to his alma mater Friday, April 26, to deliver the keynote at Cal State L.A.’s 52nd annual Honors Convocation.
The celebratory event will acknowledge the stellar academic achievements of 3,500 students, including those on the Dean’s Lists. The ceremony begins at 7 p.m. in the Eagles Nest Gymnasium.
Briseño—who earned both his bachelor’s degree in biology and master’s degree in chemistry at CSULA—is an assistant professor of the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass).
The Presidential Early Career Award that was presented to Briseño during a White House ceremony, includes $1 million to further his research program at UMass. The honor embodies the high priority the Obama Administration places on producing outstanding scientists and engineers to advance the nation’s goals, tackle grand challenges, and contribute to the American economy.
At CSULA, Briseño conducted research in Professor Feimeng Zhou’s chemistry laboratory through CSULA’s Minority Biomedical Research Support-Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement M.S. to Ph.D. Program, one of the University’s Minority Opportunities in Research (MORE) Programs.
Briseño also holds a master’s degree in chemistry from UCLA and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Washington. He completed postdoctoral work in chemistry at UC Berkeley, before joining the UMass Amherst polymer science faculty in 2009. He is originally from Baldwin Park, CA.
With formal pageantry, Friday’s special program will recognize Cal State L.A. students whose academic records place them in the upper fifth percentile of their peers. Dean’s List honorees, recipients of scholarships and grants, and Honors College participants will also be acknowledged. More than 490 new freshmen will be recognized for bringing to the University a 3.5 grade-point-average (or higher) on their high school records. In 2012, more than 1,200 Cal State L.A. students received scholarships supported by donors and grants from outside agencies.
For further details on the University Honors Convocation, call the Cal State L.A. Academic Affairs office at (323) 343-3808.
CALENDAR LISTING:
What:
52nd Honors Convocation at Cal State L.A., a tradition highlighting student achievements.
When:
Friday, April 26, 7 p.m.
Where:
Eagles Nest Gymnasium on the CSULA campus. For campus map, parking
information or directions, go to /univ/maps/cslamap.php.
Info:
For event details, call the Academic Affairs office at Cal State L.A., (323) 343-3808.
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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 225,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu