UCLA staff members and alumni Pamela Cysner and Steve Yu will be recipients of the 2017 University Service Award and the 2017 Volunteer of the Year award, respectively. Since 1946, the UCLA Alumni Association has recognized distinguished alumni who have continued to give back to the community after their graduation from UCLA.
These awardees bring great honor to the university and continue to be community heroes, according to the alumni association.
For 20 years, Cysner, the recipient of the 2017 University Service Award, has advised student leaders and groups. Each year at the office for UCLA Student Organizations, Leadership and Engagement, Cysner advises approximately 200 groups and student leaders on such topics as program and leadership development, organizational management and volunteer training. She also serves as the coordinator of a leadership development workshop series for student leaders and has led numerous workshops on conflict resolution.
In the community, Cysner partners with civic organizations on training, facilitation and consultation services in a number of areas, including conflict resolution/mediation, cross cultural communication, anger management and team building. She has taught communication techniques to middle and high school students in Inglewood schools through the Alternatives to Violence program, and has also worked with athletes, families and coaches in the Westside Special Olympics. Cysner graduated from UCLA in 1976 with a B.A. in sociology.
Yu, the recipient of the 2017 Volunteer of the Year Award, was formerly the controller at the UCLA School of Law, but on April 1, he began his new role as the chief financial officer and assistant dean of operations at the law school.
Yu serves as president of the largest UCLA regional alumni network, the UCLA Los Angeles Westside Network. He is a mentor and presenter in the Bruin Leaders Project, Bruin Toastmasters for UCLA-affiliated members and True Blue Toastmasters for External Affairs employees. He has also shared his public-speaking expertise with his law school colleagues as well as UCLA physicians. Yu graduated from UCLA in 1995 with a B.A. in economics and in 2003 with an M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School.
The 2017 UCLA Awards Ceremony will pay tribute to these staff members and other distinguished alumni on June 3 at the Luskin Conference Center. You can find more information about other awards and the ceremony here.
