Garrett lauded for academic leadership at kidney research gala
Provost receives extraordinary achievement honor at Beverly Hilton fundraiser
Elizabeth Garrett has been lauded for extraordinary achievement in academic leadership and her steadfast commitment to kidney research.
The University Kidney Research Organization (UKRO) honored the USC provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at its fifth gala dinner on Sept. 12.
The event, which also honored businessman Barry Hoeven and philanthropist Lynda Oschin, raised funds for the USC/UKRO Kidney Research Center at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
The Kidney Research Center, to be part of the Keck School of Medicine, will focus on both basic and applied research to identify the causes of, improve upon existing treatments for, and attempt to find a cure for all forms of kidney disease.
“Provost Elizabeth Garrett has a tireless commitment to building the University of Southern California and to elevating its position in the pantheon of top American universities,” said UKRO President Kenneth Kleinberg, “not least through the school’s strategy of recruiting world-class talent for all academic and scientific disciplines.”
Together with USC President C. L. Max Nikias, Keck School of Medicine Dean Carmen A. Puliafito and others, Garrett has “strongly supported UKRO’s efforts to make kidney disease a true center of excellence at the Keck School of Medicine, and for this we and all who battle kidney disease are grateful beyond words,” Kleinberg said.
Hoeven and Oschin accept accolades
Barry Hoeven, founder and chairman of Westport Properties Inc. and US Storage Centers Inc., received UKRO’s Outstanding Achievement in Business and Industry Award. He is a cancer survivor who founded Kure It Cancer Research.
Oschin, wife of the late Los Angeles businessman and philanthropist Samuel Oschin, was honored for transformative philanthropy. She was given UKRO’s Spirit of Life Award for guiding the Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Oschin Family Foundation in making contributions that reflect the interests of her husband and the needs of the community.
The University Kidney Research Organization was founded by Kleinberg, who in 1999 was diagnosed with a kidney ailment that has no known cause to this day. Kleinberg received a successful kidney transplant in 2007.
