Arnold Scheibel

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Arnold Scheibel is one of UCLA’s most eminent research neuroscientists. His area of expertise is neuroanatomy – the structure of the brain – and he is recognized internationally for his seminal contributions in broad areas of this field. In recent years, his research has focused on understanding structural anomalies in brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and epilepsy.

Scheibel leads by example. He raises the quality of teaching at UCLA by setting the standard against which his colleagues compare themselves and against which students compare the rest of the faculty. His impact is felt by students of all ages, from third graders at local elementary schools, to undergraduate and graduate students, to residents and skilled physicians who want to hear the latest about Alzheimer’s. Scheibel sets the standards not only in his performance, but also in his humility; one discerns in him a lifelong pattern of giving to others through his teaching. While his teaching load is considerable, perhaps most important among his classes is the first course in neuroanatomy, a five-course curriculum of the Ph.D. program for neuroscience. This course is so famous for its quality and depth that it is taken by graduate students in many departments and disciplines. This course is Scheibel’s labor of love, one man’s understanding of the functional anatomy of the nervous system. The course is rigorous yet wildly successful and is testament to why Scheibel has earned this distinction in teaching at the graduate level.

Scheibel also teaches two courses at the undergraduate level as well as a psychiatry course for residents. He chaired the committee that reorganized the graduate curriculum in neuroscience, and his teaching on campus has generated new avenues of learning. For example, his impact on the students and faculty in linguistics is indicated by the dramatic change in their research, resulting in neurobiological based courses on such topics as memory and language, social cognition and language and the biology of language pragmatics. As the director of the Brain Research Institute, Scheibel supported educational programs of various sorts. He organized the neuroscience graduate students in a volunteer program to visit local elementary schools, resulting in classroom talks about the brain, how it works and how to protect it. He co-organized a science curriculum for a local elementary school which brings UCLA faculty to the school to teach about science.

As a professor in the departments of anatomy and psychiatry at UCLA since 1955 Scheibel has had a real impact on the careers of his students. He is not only a great teacher, but he has also developed programs to teach his students to be great teachers as well, thus making his influence reach far beyond Westwood.