Alan Fogelman '62, M.D. '66
The 2020 UCLA Award for Professional Achievement belongs to Dr. Alan Fogelman, an internationally renowned academic cardiologist who has devoted his career to UCLA. A graduate of the UCLA School of Medicine in 1966, he served his internship, residency, chief residency in internal medicine, and fellowship in cardiology at UCLA.
A consummate educator and clinician, Dr. Fogelman joined the UCLA School of Medicine faculty in 1973, rising through the academic ranks to full professorship, and has held critical administrative positions including director of the Atherosclerosis Research Unit, chief of the Division of Cardiology, chair of the Department of Medicine, and Castera Professor of Cardiology.
His leadership has had a profound effect on the teaching and practice of primary care medicine and his department is consistently among the top 10 in the nation for NIH funding. As chair, Dr. Fogelman led the department to open clinics and hospitalist teams in the community. His research in lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis has been continuously funded by The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute since 1973. Along with Dr. Linda Demer, he is the co-founder of the UCLA Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program, which since 1994 has launched more than 190 graduates into research, academic leadership and other career roles.
Among his many honors, Dr. Fogelman received a Distinguished Achievement Award from the American Heart Association; the VA Research and Education Career Development Award in biological chemistry in the laboratory of leading biochemist Professor George J. Popjak; and the Sherman M. Mellinkoff Faculty Award, the highest honor bestowed by the David Geffen School of Medicine.
After more than 27 years of exceptional leadership, Fogelman recently announced that he will step down as chair of the Department of Medicine in June 2021. He will remain a valuable member of the UCLA faculty for many years to come.