Award for Public Service

The nomination period for 2025 is closed.

For questions regarding the Award for Public Service, please contact Edward Samayoa.

Nominations of individuals are encouraged versus groups. Nominees must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Be a UCSF academic or staff employee (with a minimum 50% appointment), or a student, resident, or postdoctoral scholar at the time of nomination (questions regarding academic status, employment, and enrollment eligibility can be answered by Human Resources or Student Academic Affairs prior to submitting a nomination).
• Have been endorsed by their supervisor and department head (academic and staff employee) or Assistant Dean for Diversity and Learner Success (students).
• Have not previously received the award.
• Have exhibited and sustained efforts toward engaging in public service as delineated below by the Selection Criteria.

Nominees will be evaluated per the following criteria:

• Base of Operations—demonstrates devotion to performing public service proportionate to their capacity to do so (some employees in higher level positions/jobs may have a greater capacity to perform public service more visibly than those in lower level positions).
• Scope—demonstrates public service contribution(s) beyond the scope of the nominee’s job, research or training.
• Effort—demonstrates significant output beyond the scope of the nominee’s job, research or training in the accomplishment of their public service.
• Impact—demonstrates that their public service has resulted in long-term benefits to recipients and community at large.
• Model Program—demonstrates that their public service resulted in a model or potential model for the establishment of other programs or activities.
• Use of Resources—demonstrates minimal reliance on UCSF resources to perform their public service.

Additionally, a recipient of the Chancellor's Award for Public Service may also be selected to receive the Thomas N. Burbridge Award or the Edison T. Uno Public Service Award (see below for further information.)

Selection criteria: Involvement in public service activities that specifically promote and bring about equal education and employment opportunities, civil rights, and social justice.

About Dr. Thomas N. Burbridge: Thomas Burbridge earned his PhD in Pharmacology from UCSF and joined the faculty of the School of Medicine in 1956. His humanitarian concern led him to interrupt his pursuit of a doctoral degree in Pharmacology in order to help in the development of a medical education program in Indonesia following that country's struggle for independence. In addition, Dr. Burbridge made several trips to southern states to recruit medical students to UCSF from predominantly black universities. He is most widely known for his leadership of the San Francisco NAACP during the time of the "Auto Row Sit-Ins" at the automobile dealerships that once thrived along Van Ness Avenue. In this case, a non-violent, direct action strategy brought about equal employment opportunities for minorities. This was one of several efforts he pursued to promote civil rights and social justice.

Selection criteria: Involvement in a minimum of two unrelated public service activities with social, political, or civic groups that promote human rights and bring about social change.

About Edison T. Uno: Edison Uno was Assistant Dean of Students at UCSF from 1969 to 1974. In addition to his job responsibilities, he was a participant and leader in a number of social and political causes and organizations. He was involved in the struggle to repeal the law that permitted the incarceration of Japanese Americans in detention camps, and was one of the leaders of the effort to establish the Ethnic Studies program at San Francisco State University during the 1960s. In the 1970s, he was the first person of Japanese descent to be appointed to serve on the San Francisco Grand Jury, while at the same time a critic of that system's exclusion of other minorities.  These are but a few examples that demonstrate Mr. Uno's commitment to human rights and social change.

A complete online nomination must include:

• Lead nominator who initiates, monitors, and completes the process. The online tool will route to emails of contributors provided by lead nominator.
• Endorsement by nominee’s supervisor and department head (employees) or Assistant Dean for Diversity and Learner Success (students).
• One nomination letter* delineating the nominee’s contributions as related to the above Selection Criteria (specific examples per each criterion).
• Two support letters* from those seconding the nomination attesting to the nominee’s contributions as related to the above Selection Criteria.

*Consider using UCSF’s internal AI tool Versa to improve your nomination letter.

• Learn more and sign up for the Versa waiting list at ai.ucsf.edu (MyAccess login required).
• Follow best practice by acknowledging where AI has been used.

2024

• Abby Cabrera
• Diane V. Havlir
• Kyle Lakatos
• Dayna Long (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Manuel Tapia (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)

2023

• Malcolm John
• Phuoc V. Le (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Sriram Shamasunder (Edison T. Uno Award)

2022

• Roberto Efraín Díaz (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Daniel Grossman
• Shira Shavit (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Hoa Su
• Taia Sean Wu

2021

• Joel Babdor
• Jessica Celentano
• Alicia Fernandez (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Adeola Oni-Orisan (Edison T. Uno Award)
• George Rutherford

2020

• Margot Kushel (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Rupa Marya (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Bhavya Rehani
• Priya Shankar

2019

• Jonathan Butler
• Melanie Callen
• Eleanor Chung (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Daniel Ciccarone
• Monica McLemore (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)

2018

• Kristin Cosner
• Elizabeth Robbins (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Shannon Weber
• Valerie Yerger

2017

• Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo
• Wayne Cheung
• Peter Cooch
• Heyman Oo
• Coleen Kivlahan (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)

2016

• Suzanne Barakat (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Maritza Lopez
• Robert H. Lustig
• Robert Mansfield (Edison T. Uno Award)

2015

• Jirayut “New” Latthivongskorn (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Obieze Nwanna-Nzewunwa
• Howard Pollick

2014

• Bibhav Acharya (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Melvin Heyman
• Charles Morgan
• Carolyn Sufrin (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Chris Waddling

2013

• James Dilley
• John Fan
• Kate Hirschman-Levy
• Robert Pitts

2012

• Neha Das
• Kevin Grumbach
• Winifred Kwofie

2011

• Dahianna Lopez
• William P. Schecter
• Alvin Teodoro

2010

• Rochelle Ami Dicker
• Dixie Horning
• Josie Lehrer

2009

• Heather Hertema
• Dan Lowenstein
• Charles (Jeff) Sheehy

2008

• Sara Gallagher
• Simin Marefat (also awarded the Edison T. Uno Award)
• Melanie Ott (also awarded the Thomas N. Burbridge Award)

2007

• Jason Miller
• Francisco Ramos-Gomez
• James Wong

2006

• Diana Block
• Glen Elliott
• Janelle Palacios

2005

• Omri Berger
• Clifton Louie
• Naomi Wortis

2004

• Mary Bradsberry
• Steven Schiff
• Christopher Stewart

2003

• MariaElena Alioto
• Stephen McPhee
• Jennifer Vanderleest

2002

• Davidson Bidwell-Waite
• Jamie Lara
• Philip Rosenthal
• Karen Skjei

2001

• Arthur Ablin
• Cherie Bremer-Kamp (also awarded the Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Smruti Vidwans

2000

• Joseph Bluford (also awarded the Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Phuong Khuu
• Ruth Malone (also awarded the Edison T. Uno Award)
• Barbara L. Wenger

1999

• Philip Darney
• Eva M. McGhee (also awarded the Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Trinity Ordona (also awarded the Edison T. Uno Award)
• Richard Wagner

1998

• Lawrence Brown
• P. Leon King (also awarded the Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Helen Miramontes (also awarded the Edison T. Uno Award)

1997

• Nelson Artiga-Diaz (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Derrick Butler
• Stanton Glantz (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Avis Ransburg

1996

• Kofi Ampin (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Jennifer Danek (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Brian Desmond
• Jaqueline Peterson-Tulsky

1995

• Connie Bear King (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Michael Mccullough (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Barbara Wilson-Thompson

1994

• Crystal Scott
• Brandy Sebron-Kelley (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• M. Michael Thaler (also awarded the Edison T. Uno Award)

1993

• Charles Gooding
• Bill Lee
• Marcia Smith (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)

1992

• Josh Bottfeld
• Donald Masuda (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Isiah Mitchell (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)

1991

• Valerie Edwards (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Blaine Elsewood
• Patricia Underwood

1990

• Christie Kiefer
• Hilary Naylor (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Kristin Oberg (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)

1989

• David O. Bracker
• Janet D. Cole
• Daniel M. Wlodarczyk

1988

• Gerald L. Hill (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Rolland C. Lowe (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Carol A. Mowbray

1987

• Marcus A. Conant
• Marie J. Rhodes
• David Siegel (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)

1986

• Oscar Salvatierra, Jr.
• Hiroshi Tokubo (Edison T. Uno Award)
• E. Leong Way

1985

• Bobby Campbell
• Delmer Pascoe
• David Sanchez, Jr. (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)

1983

• Joseph Barbaccia
• Estrella Manio
• Samuel Wycoff

1982

• Lucy Crain
• Stella Kiyota (Edison T. Uno Award)
• Theodore Tong

1981

• Benjamin Braly
• Michael A. LeNoir (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Mona Sarfaty

1980

• James Cobb (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Roy Halliday
• James Louie (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Gregory S. Thomas

1979

• Patricia G. Calarco
• Holly H. Elliott (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Carol B. Hardgrove
• Jeanette K. Ong

1978

• George L. Ellman
• Eric A. Owyang (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• John A. Watson

1977

• Sharon D. MacLachlan
• Lewis N. Nelson (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Mary Olney

1976

• A. Freeman Bradley (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Wanda James
• Ruth Prael

1975

• Patricia Diridoni (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Kathryn Forbes
• Miriam Gould

1974

• Michael Drake (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• David Johnson
• David Smith

1973

• Joanne Lewis (Thomas N. Burbridge Award)
• Joseph Spinelli
• Alfred Staubus

1972

• Laurel Glass
• David Hayes-Bautista
• Edison T. Uno

1971

• Herbert Brosbe
• Thomas N. Burbridge
• Frederick Meyers