•?Director of biopharmaceutical company MannKind Coporation, Hank Nordhoff, was recently appointed as a trustee on the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute’s board and CEO of internationally recognized entrepreneurship company CONNECT, Duane Roth, was recently named vice chair of the board. •?Renowned scientist and La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology board member Leroy Hood was awarded the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for scientists, in recognition of his pioneering work in the fields of molecular immunology, biotechnology and genomics. Hood received his award in a White House ceremony from President Barack Obama on Feb. 1. •?La Jolla resident and Joseph Clayes III Charitable Trust co-trustee Trulette Clayes recently coordinated a $3.5 million gift to San Diego’s Ronald McDonald House charity – the largest donation in the local chapter’s history – to establish an endowment fund to provide a permanent unrestricted source of funding for the organization, which operates guests rooms and a family care center for families with hospitalized children. •?La Jolla resident and Design Line Interiors president Dawn Davidson was awarded four first-place and two second-place awards in late January at the International Builder’s Show for her design work for several local builders. • John C. Reed resigned from his decade-long position as CEO of Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute to take the helm as head of Roche Pharma Research and Early Development and serve as a member of the Corporate Executive Committee. • Lee & Associates San Diego recently named Steven M. Malley, a 12-year veteran of commercial real estate in San Diego, as president of the UTC office of Lee & Associates. Malley joined the firm as a partner in 2008, specializing in the sale and leasing of office, industrial and retail properties. • Union Bank and KPBS teamed up to honor Polish-born La Jolla resident Gussie Zaks, University City-based production engineer Ikunosuke “Mike” Kawamura and founder of San Diego Hospice Dr. Doris A. Howell among its 16 honorees at the 15th annual Cultural Diversity Partnership awards celebration on Feb. 5. The local heroes were honors for Jewish American Heritage Month, Asian Pacific American heritage Month and Women’s History Month, respectively. • The La Jolla-based Clearity Foundation appointed two life-science professionals, John Crawford and Wendy Johnson, as co-chairs of the board. Crawford has served as an executive officer and director for more than a dozen life sciences firms over the past 30 years and Johnson currently serves as president and CEO of Aires Pharmaceuticals and venture partner at Salmedix, Inc. • After serving more than a decade as Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County’s (BBBS of SDC) CEO, 41-year La Jolla resident Paul Palmer has changed his role to that of senior vice president in order to focus on elicit more male volunteers for the program to act as big brothers and determine sources to fund the big brother and little brother matches. Deborah Condon, BBBS of SDC executive director and COO, has been appointed as the organization’s new CEO. •?La Jolla resident and Ph.d candidate in anthropology Jordan Haug was recently awarded a $2,500 first place prize in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest for his collection on the subject of Mormon fundamentalism and polygamy. His collection includes limited edition and rare self-printed materials. •?John B. Scherling, University City resident and partner at Sughrue Mion, PLLC, was recently accepted to serve on the World Trade Center San Diego’s board of directors. • Laurie Itkin joined La Jolla-based wealth management firm Coastwise Capital Group’s team of financial advisors and money managers. Itkin, who began her financial career more than 20 years ago, founded The Options Lady, a mentoring business committed to educate and empower women to become self-directed investors in the stock and options market.