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News and Events

News & Events Recaps

December 2007

  • The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine University will present Charles Arnoldi: Wood beginning Saturday, Jan. 12, through Sunday, March 30. Featuring over 25 large-scale works in wood from the 1970s and 1980s, this exhibition is exclusive to Pepperdine and is the first major museum survey devoted to this seminal Los Angeles artist. This exhibition is accompanied by a catalog with a critical essay that examines Arnoldi's work not simply as a California phenomenon but also as part of a national trend in the 1970s towards Postminimalism, a style where artists experimented with non-art materials in highly subjective and eccentric compositions. 
  • The Pepperdine University Center for the Arts presents popular New Age pianist Jim Brickman in a concert on Saturday, Jan. 12, at 8 p.m. in Smothers Theatre on the Malibu campus. Brickman revolutionized the sound of adult contemporary music with his pop-style solo piano and the romantic popular song. Brickman's remarkable career includes six Gold and Platinum albums, three No. 1 and 12 Top-10 adult contemporary radio hits, consistent debuts at No. 1 on Billboard's New Age chart, a Grammy nomination in 2003, SESAC "Songwriter of the Year" award, a Canadian Country Music Award for "Best Vocal/Instrumental Collaboration," and a Dove Award presented by the Gospel Music Association for The Gift.
  • Annual Santa Run Brings Holiday Cheer to Children in Mexico: For too many children in Mexico, amenities like toothpaste and socks are a luxury. This holiday season, 130 of these disadvantaged children received a special treat for Christmas from the Pepperdine community. In vehicles brimming with gifts, thirty students, faculty, and staff recently caravanned to Mexico to hand-deliver toys, clothing, and practical items such as toothpaste and combs to the children of San Felipe and Tijuana. Upon their arrival, volunteers spent a full day in each city and held Christmas celebrations for the children, complete with games, crafts, food, and presents.
  • The Pepperdine women's basketball team (5-2) will play a high-intensity game against USC (4-4) Saturday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. The Waves look for their third win this season against a Pac-10 team having defeated UCLA 91-79 on November 28 and Washington 74-56 on December 7. Mark Trakh, USC's head women's basketball coach, will meet his former team for the first time since leaving Pepperdine in 2004. Trakh coached the Waves for 11 years and built a nationally recognized program that made six post season appearances at the NCAAs. Saturday's match marks the first match-up between the Waves and the Trojans since 2003, when Pepperdine was narrowly defeated by USC 64-63.
  • Thema Bryant-Davis, assistant professor of psychology at the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, will host a free, live web conference on child trauma, spirituality, and religion on Thursday, Dec. 13, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. In association with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, whose mission is to raise the standard of care and improve access to services for traumatized children and their families, Bryant-Davis will discuss forms of child trauma, religion as barrier or challenge, and spiritually competent care.
  • Popular Weisman Museum Exhibit to Close Soon: The current exhibit, Made in California: Contemporary California Art from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, will remain on display at the Frederick R. Weisman of Art on Pepperdine's Malibu campus until Sunday, Dec. 16. The art on view represents a number of exciting and diverse movements that played a decisive role in defining the visual arts in the Golden State.
  • Faculty Examine the Issue of Faith and Politics on the National Scene: The 2008 U.S. presidential election is fostering livened debate concerning the role of religion and politics. The matter of candidates' faiths has garnered media and academic scrutiny, prompting candidates to discuss their religious convictions openly, as well as how those convictions affect their policy-making. Several Pepperdine University faculty members have discussed the subject on a national level. In response to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's speech about his Mormon faith, commentary from School of Public Policy professor David Davenport appeared in an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, an audio commentary on Townhall.com, as well as commentaries on CBS and PBS. Also commenting on Governor Romney's speech, School of Law professor Douglas Kmiec's op-ed appeared on FindLaw.com. Kmiec is a constitutional law advisor to Governor Romney's campaign. 
  • The Villa Graziadio, Pepperdine's full-service executive center, offering 50 well-appointed overnight accommodations, is open during the holidays. Located on the University's Drescher Graduate Campus overlooking the Pacific in Malibu, the executive center provides a perfect setting for meetings, conferences, and seminars.  
  • The Pepperdine Center for the Arts presents The Kingston Trio's Christmas Show on Saturday, Dec. 8, at 8 p.m. in Smothers Theatre. Kingston Trio members George Grove, Bill Zorn, and Rick Dougherty will lend their banjo-and-guitar-backed vocals to a host of holiday songs--many from the 1960 Kingston Trio Christmas album, The Last Month of the Year. They will also perform some of their most requested songs, including "Tom Dooley" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" The original Kingston Trio was formed in 1957 by Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds, and Dave Guard while the three were attending college in the San Francisco area. Using only acoustic guitars and banjos, and singing simple yet memorable melodies, they revolutionized popular music, reawakening America to its own rich folk-music heritage.
  • The Graziadio School of Business and Management (GSBM) invites the Malibu and Pepperdine communities to celebrate the fall 2007 graduation of GSBM students on Saturday, December 8, at 10:30 a.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse on the Malibu campus. Roger Ailes, chair and CEO of FOX News and chair of Fox Television Stations, will receive an honorary doctorate. Forescee M. Hogan-Rowles, president and CEO of Community Financial Resource Center (CFRC), will be honored as a Distinguished Alumnus. 
  • Payson Library received a large donation of art history books, numbering almost 600 volumes, from Tommy Breslin of Pacific Palisades, Calif. The collection consists of a wide variety of art history books ranging from Monet to Kokoschka, from the complete albums of drawings by Francisco Goya to museum catalogs, and from books on architecture to studio ceramics. The collection belonged to Breslin's late wife Audrey Ezratty Breslin, who was an undergraduate art history major at UCLA. Audrey went to law school and became a public defender for the City of West Los Angeles. The Breslins traveled extensively and so the collection reflects works from such places as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Albertina Museum in Vienna, and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
  • Robert M. Fulmer, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Strategy at the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and Jared L. Bleak have authored a new book titled The Leadership Advantage: How the Best Companies Are Developing Their Talent to Pave the Way for Future Success (AMACOM; September 27, 2007). In this new publication, Fulmer and Bleak use their own experience in leadership development to offer coaching strategies for turning high-performing employees into exceptional leaders. The Leadership Advantage is based on substantial research and features the results of a 2006 study conducted by Duke Corporation Education, the American Productivity and Quality Center, and the Center for Creative Leadership. Drawing from case studies of companies such as Caterpillar, Cisco Systems, and PepsiCo, Fulmer and Bleak further explore the advantages of integrating leadership development into business strategy.