http://www.calstatela.edu Fall 2003, vol. 34, no. 1 Published by the Office of Public Affairs

Research project provides hope for spinal cord injuries

President Rosser celebrates 25th year with University

Before Andrea Jennings—a 35-year-old with spinal cord in-jury—decided to participate in the Spinal Cord Injury and ExerciseResearch (SCIER) project this summer, she was told by doctors andtherapists that she would never again walk on her own.

Within one month, however, Jennings was walking with minimalassistance using a novel rehabilitation system—“a really remark-able outcome,” according to Ray de Leon, the CSULA facultymember who, along with kinesiology professors Jesus Dominguezand Tamar Semerjian, oversees the SCIER project.

This Fall marked a quarter-century of lead-ership by President James M. Rosser, whohas taken the University into a new millenniumand into its sixth decade. Today, Dr. Rosserhas the distinction of being the nation’s long-est-serving African American president cur-rently in office at a public university.

During Dr. Rosser’s 25-year presidency,Cal State L.A. has become renowned for itsdiversity and inclusivity—attributes that addvalue to the University and our community.During this time, the University has continuedto welcome a diverse and distinguished facultyand the campus has seen unprecedentedgrowth. Much of what now characterizes CalState L.A. was put in place under President Rosser’s stewardship.Signature facilities such as housing, the remodeled Engineering &Technology and Music buildings, the Luckman Fine Arts Complex,the expanded Anna Bing Arnold Children’s Center, and The

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Following a car accident in October 2000, in which she alsosuffered a brain injury, Jennings was unwilling to settle fordependency on a leg brace or power wheelchair. After more thantwo years of seeing a battery of doctors, Jennings says she wasready to try anything.

In 2003, Jennings heard about the SCIER project through afriend, Eve-Lynn Brown, one of several students working on theproject. Jennings didn’t inquire about it, however, until her 14-year-old daughter enrolled at Cal State L.A. to take courses forcollege credit. What happened after that astonished both Jenningsand CSULA researchers alike.

On July 1, three SCIER Fellows—specially trained to conductthis therapy—began to work with Jennings using a state-of-the-artgait-training machine by Robomedica, Inc. “This is one of themachines that Christopher Reeves used!” enthuses Jennings.

Robomedica, Inc.’s (www.robomedica.com) body weightsupport system is among the company’s first products basedon research developed at UCLA and UC Irvine. It is designed fora variety of needs, including patients with neural impairments,orthopedic injuries and degenerative diseases.

The gait-training machine supports Jenning’s body weight witha harness above a treadmill. At the same time, student “steptrainers”—Chung Lim, Suzanne Montague and Troy Young—assist Jenning’s legs with sensory cues that simulate walkingmotion and rhythm, helping her to relearn swing and stance (thetwo phases of walking). The computerized apparatus continuallyadjusts the amount of support she receives during stepping,

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Golden Eagle are significant visible facets ofDr. Rosser’s legacy. The Pat Brown Institute,Roybal Institute for Applied Gerontology,SPACE lab, Integrated Humanities Center, CEA-CREST, President’s Scholars, and many othernoteworthy centers, institutes and programswere also introduced during this period. Andwho can imagine the University without its SolarEagle cars and other award-winning alterna-tive energy vehicle programs?

Less visible but no less critical are theinnovations to campus technology and infra-structure that have been instituted during Dr.Rosser’s tenure. The new Luckman IntimateTheatre, a regional Crime Lab and an interdis-

ciplinary science facility are on the horizon.Happy 25th anniversary, President Rosser! Cal State L.A. is

strengthened by your vision and support.

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CSULA partners in first West Coast ‘early college’

Coach leads U.S. teamOn Aug. 17, CSULA

head tennis coachTina Karwasky ’sthree-set singles vic-tory and straight-setdoubles victory versusAustria led the UnitedStates to the champi-onship of the International TennisFederation’s (ITF) Maria Esther BuenoCup in Eisenach, Germany. In the final tieagainst Austria, Karwasky defeated MariaGeyer in singles, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, beforepairing with U.S. team captain MargaretRusso for a 6-2, 6-0 win in doubles whichclinched the Bueno Cup title for the Ameri-can team. The ITF Bueno Cup is an inter-national tennis team competition forwomen age 50 and older.

Fulbright scholarYehudi Webster (Sociology) has

been awarded a prestigiousFulbright Scholar grant to lectureat Lodz University, Poland, duringthe 2003-2004 academic year.

Acco rd -ing to the U.S.Departmentof State andthe J. WilliamFulbright For-eign Scholar-ship Board,Webster willteach courses on race and ethnicityin American society, violence inAmerican society, and multiculturaleducation in the Department ofAmerican Studies and Mass Media.

The Fulbright Program—America’s flagship internationaleducational exchange activity—issponsored by the U.S. Departmentof State, Bureau of Educationaland Cultural Affairs.

Carlos G. Gutiérrez (Chemistryand Biochemistry) was appointed amember of the California Council ofScience andTechnology(CCST). TheCouncil is anindependent30 memberassembly ofc o r p o r a t eCEOs, aca-demicians, scientists and scholarsof the highest distinction.

The Council provides indepen-dent and objective findings onpublic policy issues involving sci-ence and technology that affectthe State of California.

CCST member

For Web calendar, go to: www.calstatela.edu/calendar

Cal State L.A. was recently listed #9among Black Issues in Higher Education’s“Top 100,” a national list of colleges anduniversities that conferred the mostbachelor’s degrees to minority students in2001-2002, according to data from theU.S. Department of Education.

Listed by particular disciplines, CalState L.A. ranked #1 in awardingbachelor’s degrees in education to His-panic students, #3 in awarding bachelor’sdegrees in area/ethnic studies to Hispanicstudents, and #4 in awarding bachelor’sdegree in education to Asian Americanstudents. Cal State L.A. is also the topranking institution in California awardingbachelor’s degrees in all disciplines com-bined to Hispanic students.

Black Issues’ top ten

University Reports is published by the Office ofPublic Affairs. All material must be sent by e-mail,<cselkin@cslanet.calstatela.edu>. For copysubmission guidelines, see <http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/ppa/ur/urform.htm>. (Call ext. 3047 if youhave no access to the Web.) Copy for the Fall 2003issue (vol. 34, no. 2) must be received in the PublicAffairs Office by Fri., Nov. 14, 2003.

Executive editor—Carol Selkin; Editor—MargieOi Yu; Copy editor—Nancy Miron; Photography—

Stan Carstensen; Layout production—YuriWatanabe; Masthead design—David McNutt;

Printing—Reprographics

The Accelerated Charter High School,a new public charter high school in southLos Angeles, in partnership with Cal StateL.A., was among the nation’s first fourWoodrow Wilson High School Early Col-leges to open this September.

Funding for all four Woodrow WilsonHigh School Early Colleges is provided bythe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation andthe Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Other Early College high schools are atHunter College and Brooklyn College, inpartnership with the New York City De-partment of Education, and through DillardUniversity in partnership with the NewOrleans Public Schools. Ten schools willeventually be established in urban areasaround the country.

All Woodrow Wilson schools empha-size liberal arts coursework typical of in-troductory college undergraduate classes.Graduates are expected to receive sig-nificant college credit—in some cases,enough to enter college as sophomoresor juniors.

The Accelerated Charter High School,located on Martin Luther King Blvd., beganthis year with 30 ninth-graders, with prioritygiven to Accelerated School 7th and 8thgraders. The school’s co-directors, KevinSved and Johnathan Williams, say enroll-ment is anticipated to grow to 360 in fouryears. The bulk of the early college courseswill be taken in 11th and 12th grades, saysJuli Quinn (Curriculum and Instruction).

Quinn is the faculty liaison between theUniversity and The Accelerated School—a

Los Angeles charter school that, until nowhas served K-8.

“The high school teachers will workalongside our professors as they de-velop a syllabus for each course,” shesays. “There will also be opportunities forprofessors and ACHS teachers to team-teach some units and examine studentwork together to assure the rigor of thecollege curriculum is maintained. In allcases the ACHS teachers and profes-sors will work as colleagues.”

The program also seeks to bring highschool and college programs closer andencourage collaboration among highschool and college faculty. While indi-vidual schools may use various models,the effort is inspired by the nationallynoted Bard High School Early College,established in fall 2001 by Bard andSimon’s Rock Colleges.

“The University is very excited to be part ofthis unique collaborative,” Quinn said.

Cal State L.A. Outstanding Professors announced

Pictured: (back row, l-r) President James M. Rosser; Ted Anagnoson, Academic Senate chair; Provost Herman D. Lujan; Margaret Jefferson, OPA selection chair; (front row, l-r) Sunil Sapra, Daphne Liu, Judith Hamera, Penelope Semrau and Majdedin Mirmirani.

The Outstanding Professor Awardsare made primarily for excellence in teach-ing, but significant achievements are ex-pected in scholarly inquiry or creativity,professional activities, and service to thecampus and community.

The President’s Distinguished Pro-fessor Award recognizes superlativeteaching and exceptional commitment tostudents as well as professional accom-plishments and services. Only those pro-fessors who have previously been selectedas Outstanding Professors are eligible forthis award.

Congratulations to our 2002-2003 Out-standing Professors and 2004 President’sDistinguished Professor!

PRESIDENT’S DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR:Judith Hamera, Professor of Speech

Communication (College of Arts and Letters)

Currently serving asacting associate dean ofthe College of Arts andLetters, Professor JudithHamera is the recipientof the President’s Dis-tinguished ProfessorAward for 2004.

Since 1987, when she arrived at CalState L.A., Hamera has taught nine differ-

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ent graduate seminars and 15 undergradu-ate courses across two departments — theDepartment of Communication Studies andthe Department of Theatre Arts and Dance.Her significantly superior student evalua-tions have addressed her professionalism,the challenging nature of her course re-quirements, and her caring attitude. Shehas been commended for providing chal-lenging, intellectually stimulating and highlymotivating courses to every student whoenters her classroom.

Hamera’s major professional achieve-ments include more than 30 book chap-ters and articles in prestigious nationaland international journals in her field, andmore than 40 presentations at nationaland international meetings. Hamera’s nu-merous professional awards and honorsinclude her selection as co-editor of themost definitive reference work in her fieldand as recipient of the highest award foroutstanding scholarship by the nationalorganization in this discipline. Hamerahas served as the editor of Text and Per-formance Quarterly, a major peer-re-viewed national journal. She is the recipi-ent of the 1996 Cal State L.A. OutstandingProfessor Award.

Hamera received her B.A. from WayneState University and her M.A. and Ph.D.from Northwestern University.

OUTSTANDING PROFESSORS:Daphne Der-Fen Liu, Professor of Math-

ematics (College of Natural and SocialSciences)

Daphne Liu, aCSULA faculty membersince 1991, has taught awide range of courses—23 different subjectsranging from generaleducation throughgraduate courses—and supervised morethan a dozen graduate and undergraduatestudents in direct study courses. She hasbeen instrumental in designing an upperdivision course on graph theory as well asan important core requirement course ondiscrete mathematics. She was also princi-pal graduate advisor for mathematics, pro-viding advisement and supervision to morethan 60 M.S. students. Liu has been a visit-ing professor in Taiwan at the National SunYat-sen University, Academic Sinica, andthe National Chiao Tung University. Liu re-ceived her B.S. from National Central Uni-versity, Taiwan, and her Ph.D. from theUniversity of South Carolina, Columbia.

Some of her more than 20 publicationshave appeared in the most prestigious jour

2002-2003 OPAs (continued from page 3)

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nals in her research fields. She hasgiven more than 40 presentations at pro-fessional conferences, workshops and in-stitutions nationally and internationally, in-cluding invited talks presented at OxfordUniversity, Simon Fraser University,Rutgers University, and Caltech. She hasrefereed numerous research papers formajor research journals in her field, andserves as a reviewer for NSF grant pro-posals. Liu is the recipient of two NationalScience Foundation research grants.

Liu’s research involves both theory andapplications, with a main focus on graphcoloring problems including their inter-play with number theory and their appli-cations to broadcast communications,such as TV or radio channel assignments.For three consecutive years, Liu has servedas the final judge for an annual interna-tional contest for undergraduate studentsin her discipline.

Majdedin Mirmirani, Professor of Me-chanical Engineering (College of Engineer-ing, Computer Science, and Technology)

Majdedin Mirmiraniis serving his third termas department chairwhile maintaining a veryactive, full-time re-search program. He hasbeen a CSULA facultymember since 1981.

Mirmirani uses problem-based learn-ing in his courses to promote critical think-ing. He challenges students on the firstday of class with an open-ended realworld problem: by solving this type ofproblem, he says, his students learn allthe required theories.

Mirmirani’s professional achieve-ments include 40 publications in top-ranked journals and proceedings of con-ferences in his field, book chapters, andtechnical reports and briefs. He is the PIor co-PI on external research grants thatexceed $13 million.

Over the past eight years, Mirmirani’sresearch had focused on the designand construction of a testbed for largesegmented telescopes. His current re-search, funded by NASA and the U.S.Air Force, focuses on the developmentof multidisciplinary tools for design, mod-eling and simulation of high-performance

aircraft such as NASA’s air-breathinghypersonic air vehicle, design of intelli-gent flight control laws and aero-elas-ticity. All of his research projects di-rectly involve the participation of under-graduate and graduate students.

Mirmirani received his B.S. in me-chanical engineering from Tehran Poly-technic, Iran, and both his M.S. andPh.D. in mechanical engineering spe-cializing in dynamic systems and con-trol from UC Berkeley.

Sunil K. Sapra, Professor of Econom-ics and Statistics (College of Business andEconomics)

Sunil K. Sapraearned his B.S. from theUniversity of Delhi, In-dia, M.A. from DelhiSchool of Economics,India, M.Phil. and Ph.D.from Columbia Univer-sity, and held the prestigious ASA/NSF/Census Research Fellowship at the Bu-reau of Census in 1989.

Since joining CSULA in 1991, Saprahas been extremely active in teachingand research. He has taught a wide vari-ety of courses in economics, economet-rics, and statistics, including businessstatistics and international economics. Apopular teacher on campus, Sapra hasconsistently received top teaching evalu-ations in all his courses.

Sapra’s research has focused on miss-ing data problems, nonlinear statistical andeconometric models, robust statistical pro-cedures, duration data analysis, and semi-parametric econometrics. His research onsome econometric problems is consid-ered pioneering by researchers in his field.He has published more than 50 articles insome of the most prestigious statistics andeconometrics journals. His research hasbeen cited in top journals in these fields aswell as in a widely-used volume on statis-tical distributions. He serves on the edito-rial board of the journal InterStat, and is areviewer for several econometrics and sta-tistics journals. He has made presenta-tions at national and international confer-ences and has been a chair and a discus-sant at these conferences.

Penelope Semrau, Professor of Edu-cation (Charter College of Education—Division of Educational Foundations andInterdivisional Studies)

I n S e p t e m b e r ,Penelope Semrau be-gan her 16th teachingyear at Cal State L.A.Semrau, professor ofinstructional technol-ogy, teaches both un-dergraduate and graduate classes in edu-cational uses of computers. Her classes,which include Multimedia Design and Pro-duction, Authoring Tools in Education, andInformation Technologies in the Classroom,use cutting-edge technology andconstructivist approaches to learning.

Semrau pioneered the e-learning waveat Cal State L.A. She was one of the firstprofessors in the CSU system to teachonline in 1994. Because of such accom-plishments, in 1998 she was invited toteach in Hamburg, Germany, on the topicof online learning.

Semrau has amassed an impressiverecord of publications, presentations, and30 grants. She is currently the PI and direc-tor of a project funded by the NationalSecurity Agency. She has authored thebooks, Using Interactive Video in Educa-tion and MacArt, and her writings are in-cluded in educational anthologies. Hermany articles and book reviews have beenpublished in major journals in her field,including Educational Technology and TheComputing Teacher.

Semrau received her B.S.E. from Uni-versity of Wisconsin, Whitewater; M.S.from Illinois State University, Normal; andPh.D. from Ohio State University. Beforepursuing a university career, she taughtart in Wisconsin public schools and, as amuralist, was featured in Time magazine.

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In memoriamElaine Howell, a graduate student of

Mary Bush (English), was first runner-up inthe 2003 23rd annual international Imita-tion Hemingway Contest, sponsored byHemispheres, United Airlines in-flightmagazine. The magazine announced thewinners in the July issue.

Howell, a writer, editor and creativewriting student in Cal State L.A.’s EnglishM.A. Program, heard about the competi-tion through her class with Bush. Her entry,“The Sun Also Rises in Hundred AcreWoods,” follows Piglet as he attempts to

Hemingway? Not! Prize? Yes!escape tormenting memories of the Chris-topher Robin War by downing shots ofhoney at Pooh’s Place. “Milne’s character,Piglet, seems like the perfect Hemingwayhero (anti-hero?) to me—riddled with anxi-ety and fear, emasculated andunempowered, melancholic, quietly tor-tured,” Howell says. “I’m sure if Milne hadwritten a bar into Hundred Acre Woods,Piglet would be a regular.”

Hemispheres is a critically acclaimedaward-winning magazine.

John Swain, College of Artsand Letters associate dean, mu-sician, com-poser and mu-sic educator,passed awayon Aug. 3 aftera courageousbattle with co-lon cancer. Swain served on thefaculty for 19 years. As chair ofthe University Music Adminis-trators of California and the Cali-fornia Council on Music Educa-tion, he was a leader in settingagendas to examine issues inmusic education in California.He is survived by his wife Gail,his daughter Abigail, his mother,and two sisters. To contribute tothe John Swain scholarship fund,call ext. 3-4001.

Cal State L.A.’s student chapter ofSociety for the Advancement of Materialand Process Engineering won third prizefor its glass bridge model (weighing855.8 grams) at SAMPE’s 2003 SuperLight-Weight Composite Bridge Build-ing Contest.

The team included civil engineeringmajors Romel Bravo, Marco Ibarra,Patrick Doan, Christina Mannino, EstelaDonoso, Andrei Tcharssov, and Fran-cisco Garcia.

The faculty advisor was Narendra Taly(Civil Engineering).

The objective of the bridge buildingcontest is to design and build the mostweight-efficient bridge constructed ofcomposite materials.

Students win high honorA team of students, faculty and staff

placed first in a NASA competition todesign an autonomous aircraft that wouldperform scientific explorations on Titan,Saturn’s largest moon. Calling the team’sdesign “the best” of the submissions,the NASA award letter noted that “thedecisive factors in selecting Cal State

L.A. as a winner were the excellent scopeof the engineering analysis and the rigorof [the] design.”

After six months of intense researchand analysis, the CSULA team proposedan innovative concept vehicle that takesoff and lands vertically—either on land oron lakes of liquid methane, which is usedto fuel the engine.

The team included the followingmechanical engineering majors: teaml e a d e r U c h e O f o m a , S h i g e r uMatsuyama, Annie He, Amir Massoudi,and Josue Cruz. Interns from theFrench Institute for Advanced Mechan-ics Julien Blanc and Jean-Yves Fargeatalso contributed to the vehicle design.The team’s faculty advisor is Chivey Wu(Mechanical Engineering).

Aircraft design places first in NASA contest

and allows the SCIER team to modify thetreadmill speed and body weight supportas she progresses.

De Leon, the project’s principal investi-gator, notes, “It was amazing! We startedto see major results with Andrea, who re-covered significant walking ability after onlya few weeks. Her recovery is a testamentnot only to her hard work and determina-tion, but also to the project’s dedicatedstudents who have worked intensely withher this summer.”

Jennings attributes much of her recov-ery to a strong faith in God, but she alsocan’t stop praising the SCIER Fellows, pro-fessors, and the designers of the gait-training equipment. “I want to get this mes-sage of hope out to as many people withspinal cord injury as possible, to let themknow there is a place they can go to gethelp,” says Jennings.

In addition to participating in the SCIERproject, Jennings is enrolled in Kinesiol-ogy 155, a course open to anyone whoneeds assistance in exercising. The classhas access to adaptive exercise equip-ments in the Mobility Training Center.

With renewed aspirations, Jennings re-cently started a non-profit organization toincrease public awareness about theneeds of people with disabilities and toraise self-esteem for newly injured or di-agnosed “differently-abled” individuals.

Aiming to specialize in disability andhousing accessibility issues, Jenningsplans to pursue a bachelor’s degree inpolitical science with an option in publicadministration at Cal State L.A. At themoment, however, her focus is on hertherapy and getting the word out aboutthe SCIER project.

Rehab (continued from page 1)

For listing of new faculty, facultytenure and faculty promotions,

go to:

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Faculty listings

Web site makesDigital Dozen list

The CSU: Working for California

Geology Labs On- l ine (h t tp : / /www.sciencecourseware.com/) wasrecently included in Digital Dozen, a listof exemplary Web sites for educatorsselected by the Eisenhower NationalClearinghouse (ENC). This is the secondtime it has made the list, and more than amillion secondary school educators haveaccessed the site.

Geology Labs On-line has recently ex-panded to include an environmental sci-ence component, earning it a newname—Virtual Courseware for Earth andEnvironmental Sciences. The popular siteis the collaborative effort of natural sciencefaculty members and support staff: RobertDesharnais (principal investigator), GaryNovak (principal investigator), Dave Mayo,David Risner and Daniel Vasconcelos.

The site’s Web-based activities andlab exercises enhance the learning andteaching of geology and other Earth andenvironmental science topics to ad-vanced high school and introductory col-lege level students. Students can learnabout earthquakes, geologic dating andrivers, and activities on global warmingand biodiversity are under development.The exercises are interactive, requiringstudents to use their science process skills.

The biology portion is a separatesubscription Web site (http://www.BiologyLabsOnLine.com), explainsDesharnais. Owned jointly by BenjaminCummings and the CSU, it has already soldmore than 250,000 subscriptions and is oneof the most successful subscription Websites for college science students.

New UAS board president appointed

The CSU is a leader in high-quality,accessible, student-focused highereducation.

• The CSU is the country’s largest uni-versity system (414,000 students); the mostdiverse (minority enrollment tops 53 per-cent); and the most affordable (studentfees are the lowest of comparable publicuniversities nationwide).

• The CSU graduates 77,000 studentseach year into California’s workforce.

• The CSU prepares the most studentsin the fields that make California work:engineering, computer science, business,agriculture, and education.

The state budget crisis has createdsignificant challenges for the CSU.

• For 2003/04, the CSU has taken anet budget reduction of 11 percent;for 2004/05 there is no enrollment growth.

• For the near term, the CSU mustfocus on providing “authentic access”:ensuring that students enrolled get thecourses they need to graduate.

• For the long term, the CSU must worktoward securing a higher education fund-ing plan that will allow us to serve studentsin good economic times and bad.

Disney executive chef joins Golden Eagle team

executive officer of CGS Incorpo-rated, a nationwide distributor of in-dustrial safety products.

Harris’ diverse background in-cludes eight years with Security Pa-cific National Bank in Los Angeles.There, he held various managementpositions. He has also served as apart-time faculty member at Cal StateL.A.’s College of Business and Eco-nomics, where he taught intermedi-ate and managerial accounting.

Harris holds a master’s degree inbusiness administration from Indi-ana University and a bachelor’s de-gree in accounting from the Univer-sity of Connecticut.

room resortknown as the“ C r o w nJewel” of WaltDisney World.

“ S t e v e ’ stalent takesour new hos-pitality pro-

gram to a level never before experi-enced at Cal State L.A.,” says JeffMiller, director of Golden Eagle Hos-pitality. “The Golden Eagle Hospital-ity now provides a vast array of ser-vices to on-campus and local com-munity patrons.”

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This year, it is essential that CSU cam-pus communities spread the word aboutthe value of a CSU education. The mes-sage being sent by the Chancellor’s Of-fice comprises three main points:

Higher education is vital to California’seconomic prosperity.

• A person with a bachelor’s degree willearn nearly twice as much over a lifetime asa high school graduate ($2.1 million vs.$1.2 million). (U.S. Census Bureau)

• More educated workers mean highertax revenues, greater productivity, a stron-ger high-tech workforce, and decreasedreliance on government financial support.

Golden Eagle Hospitality, a new UASdivision, announces Steve M. Nelsonas executive chef for the UniversityClub and campus catering operations.

Nelson comes to Cal State L.A.directly from the Walt Disney WorldCompany, where he spent 13 yearsas restaurant chef with Olivia’s Café,a 185-seat, South Florida-themedfamily-style restaurant; Flagler’sRestaurant, known for its Italian/Medi-terranean fine dining; Victoria &Albert’s—an award-winning, five-star,six-course dining experience; andthe Grand Floridian Café, where heoversaw a full-service a la cartemenu and in-room dining for the 900-

P a t r i c kHarris wasa p p o i n t e dpresident ofthe Board ofDirectors ofU n i v e r s i t yAuxiliary Ser-vices, effective

July 1, 2003. Harris assumed the postpreviously held by Allen A. Mori.

Harris is chief operating officer ofthe Los Angeles Urban League, anationally acclaimed non-profit cor-poration headquartered in Los Ange-les. Prior to joining the L.A. UrbanLeague, he was president and chief