Visionary alumna Martine Rothblatt honored with UCLA Medal
Civic EngagementMartine Rothblatt hasn’t just dreamed bigger than most. She’s accomplished more, too. Rothblatt is the CEO of a billion-dollar pharmaceutical company, who also remains a staunch proponent of generic drugs; she founded Sirius XM satellite radio; she’s helped develop pioneering work on organ transplants; she’s a powerful advocate for transgender rights; she’s a lawyer, medical ethicist, futurist, pilot, triathlete, parent and world-changing technologist.
For Rothblatt’s impacts that have remade how people around the world live, the three-time UCLA alumna was presented Jan. 11 with the UCLA Medal, the highest campus honor.
“Dr. Rothblatt has taken her UCLA education — a B.A., a J.D. and an M.B.A. — and used it to delve into the far reaches of space, to the minute realms of the human genome, and to the mysterious complexities of human identity and consciousness,” said Chancellor Block. “She is fond of the idea that we should identify the ‘corridors of indifference’ and then run like hell down them. I love that image: of her running down those corridors — bold, courageous and strong and serving as a role model for others who aspire to be equally bold, courageous and strong.”
Read more on UCLA Newsroom.
Read Chancellor Block’s speech.
From left: Darnell Hunt, dean of the division of social sciences in the UCLA College; Judy Olian, dean of the UCLA Anderson School of Management; Martine Rothblatt; Chancellor Block; and Jennifer Mnookin, dean of the UCLA School of Law.