Jean De Vellis was awarded the 2008 Bernard Haber Award, which is awarded to a member of the ASN who has exhibited outstanding leadership skills, possesses a community-minded spirit and who through his or her efforts has strengthened the ties amongst neuroscientists world-wide. As reviewed by Regino Perez-Polo in a foreword for a 2003 special issue of Neurochemical Research that was dedicated to Jean, Jean has not only served in almost every leadership role of the ASN and ISN, but he has consistently demanded that young scientists be brought into positions of leadership in these societies.
For over 25 years, Jean De Vellis has promoted a spirit of camaraderie and collaboration which have become defining features of the ASN. It would not be an overstatement to say that every member of the ASN has in some direct way benefited from Jean’s tireless and generous activities. In 1981, Jean was elected Treasurer of the ASN and he served in that position from 1981-1987. Then in 1989 he was elected President of the ASN, and he served in that capacity for 3 years. Also during that time, he chaired the ASN Program Committee. In 2003, Jean was appointed Chair of the Local Host Committee for the ASN meeting that was held in Newport Beach. Jean has always been keenly involved with his international colleagues and heremains an influential and respected member of the International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN). Jean was the Program Chairman for the ISN from 1991-1993, Treasurer of the ISN from 1993-1997, and Chairman of the ISN from 1997-1999.
As an educator and scientist, Jean has consulted widely for colleagues at scholarly institutions across the globe. He has participated on the faculty of ISN schools in Mexico, Germany, and France. He has mentored over 50 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows many of whom are now prominent members of the ASN and ISN.
In addition to his service to both the ASN and the ISN, Jean has been the Editor-in Chief of the Journal of Neuroscience Research since 1999. In addition, he has sat on the editorial boards of Neurochemical Research , Glia, Developmental Neuroscience, International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, Alzheimer's Disease and Associated Disorders, and Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews.
Dr. De Vellis presently holds the George Tarjan Chair in Mental Retardation at UCLA and was promoted to a distinguished Professor in Neurobiology in 2004. He has served as the Director of the Mental Retardation Research Center (MRRC) since 1994.
Over the course of his career he has published over 200 peer reviewed scientific articles, 14 books and 40 book chapters.
On the basis of years of distinguished and generous service, Jean de Vellis is truly deserving of the Bernard Haber Award.
SL 10/2009
