LLUAHSC SCOPE Summer 2001 - LLUAHSC honors trustees

LLUAHSC honors trustees
Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center honors Board of Trustees at recognition dinner

[SCOPE, Summer 2001]

Rock/Behrens
Calvin B. Rock, DMin, PhD, chair, LLUAHSC Board of Trustees, presents B. Lyn Behrens, MBBS, president & CEO, LLUAHSC, with an award honoring her service.

Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center honored all of its Board of Trustees members and a long-time employee Richard A. James, JD, retiring general counsel of Loma Linda University, at a dinner held Saturday evening, February 3, at the Wong Kerlee International Conference Center.

"It is our privilege to recognize and honor those who have served so ably as Board members and advisors during the last quinquennium," said B. Lyn Behrens, MBBS, president and chief executive officer of LLUAHSC.

"Together you represent more than 560 years of dedicated, imaginative, spirit-led service to the institutions that are a part of the Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center.

"You have given of your talent, your time, your excellent counsel, your experienced and wise judgment, your resources, and your prayers to enhance the mission-driven educational, clinical, and research programs, services, and initiative that are today's Loma Linda."

James
Richard A. James, JD, and his wife, Lorna, are presented with a framed print of Loma Linda Sanitarium and Hospital by Donald G. Pursley, DBA, executive vice president and chief financial officer, LLUAHSC; and W. Augustus Cheatham, MSW, vice president for public affairs and marketing, LLUAHSC.

During the dinner, Dr. Behrens and Calvin B. Rock, DMin, PhD, chair, LLUAHSC Board of Trustees, recognized each of the Trustees in attendance and presented each with an award for his or her years of service to the institution.

"The journey over the years has been so enriched by the members of the Board of Trustees," Dr. Behrens said in her remarks. "The last 10 years for me have been made livable through the life

and work of each of you as members of our Board and to the members of the administration.

"We have seen in this last quinquennium the wonderful excitement of new facilities expanded and facilities growing; we have journeyed together through the watching of God's power."

In his remarks, Dr. Rock thanked the members of the LLUAHSC Board of Trustees on behalf of the institution and the Seventh-day Adventist Church for their sacrifices and participation in the life of Loma Linda.

Dr. Rock also thanked Dr. Behrens for her service as president during the past decade and for her continued leading of the institution. "The Board recognizes that your ministry here is a gift," he said. "You have been, through the past 10 years, an inspiration to us."

Board
Current and past members of the LLUAHSC Board of Trustees in attendance at the recognition dinner pose for a photograph. Pictured are (first row, from left) B. Lyn Behrens, MBBS; Ravindra Rao, MD; H. Roger Hadley, MD; T. Grace Emori, MS, RN; Vivien Dee, DNSc; Leroy A. Reese, MD; Ben D. Schoun, MDiv, DMin; and Richard A. James, JD. (Second row, from left) Orville D. Parchment, MPH; Ralph J. Thompson, MD; Hubert Watkins, MD; Alden Chase, DDS; Harold Lee, DMin; Gerry Karst; Ronald A. Lindsey, MBA. (Third row, from left) Ralph S. Watts Jr.; Malcolm D. Gordon, MA; Matthew Bediako, MA, MSPH; Neal C. Wilson; James J. Couperus, MD; Humberto Rasi, PhD; Calvin B. Rock, DMin, PhD; Lowell C. Cooper; and Robert E. Lemon.

Dr. Rock continued, "I speak for all of the Board members that in the obvious evidences of your sincerity, spirituality, and sacrifices, you have the basic concern for Loma Linda that was Ellen White's dream for this place."

In addition to thanking the Board members, Dr. Rock also expressed appreciation to spouses of the Board members.

"Spouses, we want you to know that we appreciate your sacrifice as well. We recognize that the members' presence here represents their absence from home, but we hope that you understand that you too, are a part of what makes Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center and Loma Linda."

Also recognized at the dinner was Richard James, JD, general counsel of Loma Linda University.

For more than a half century, Mr. James was employed by Loma Linda. Born in Battle Creek, Michigan, he moved with his family to Loma Linda in 1943. After completing his junior year at Loma Linda Academy, he obtained summer work as a part-time messenger at Loma Linda Sanitarium and Hospital.

During his senior year, he was hired as a desk clerk, a position he retained during the next four years as he completed his undergraduate education at La Sierra College (now known as La Sierra University) in Riverside.

During the Korean War, from 1950 to 1952, Mr. James served in the United States Army Adjutant General's Office. These two years of military service marked the only break in his service record with Loma Linda, which totaled 55 years.

While systematically rising through the administrative ranks of Loma Linda University, Mr. James completed his law degree from the University of California Law Center, passing both the State Bar of California and the American Bar Association examinations in 1967.

In 1969, Mr. James was appointed general legal counsel for Loma Linda University, a capacity in which he served for 31 years. In 1971, he was elected both assistant secretary of the Board of Trustees, and one of the assistant secretaries of

the University Corporation. In 1983, he was appointed secretary of the Board of Trustees and secretary of the Corporation.

In recognition of his service, Mr. James was presented with a framed print of the Nathan Greene painting of the Loma Linda Sanitarium that is on display at the Medical Center.

[SCOPE, Summer 2001]