George Shultz & Charlotte Mailliard Shultz to Be Honored at Commonwealth Club Annual Dinner

The Honorable George P. Shultz, former U.S. secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan, and his wife, California and San Francisco Chief of Protocol Charlotte Mailliard Shultz, will receive The Commonwealth Club of California's Distinguished Citizen Award.

They will receive the award at the Club’s 22nd Annual Distinguished Citizen Award Dinner, which will take place April 29, 2010, at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco. The Club is honoring George P. Shultz and Charlotte Mailliard Shultz for their decades of service on the local, regional, national, and international levels.

Leaving the Bay Area where he had served as President of Bechtel Corporation since 1975, George Shultz served as President Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state from 1982 to 1989. Before that appointment, he served as labor secretary and treasury secretary during the Nixon Administration and as a senior staff economist on the Council of Economic Advisers during the Eisenhower administration. Regarded as one of the preeminent political minds of our time, Secretary Shultz played a pivotal role in the most precarious and delicate international issues facing the United States during his day, including the Cold War. In 1989, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Today he offers his insights on global political and economic policy as a distinguished fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. In 1997 The Commonwealth Club of California honored Secretary Shultz with the Distinguished Citizen Award, along with former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry; Secretary Shultz is the only person to receive the Club’s Distinguished Citizen Award twice. The author of five books and numerous academic articles, he has taught at a number of prestigious universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Chicago Graduate School of Business, and Stanford. He earned his Ph.D. in industrial economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1949. He received his B.A. in economics from Princeton University in 1942, joining the US Marine Corps that same year.

Together, the Shultzes constitute a dynamic and accomplished team of devoted San Franciscans. Serving in the volunteer position of chief of protocol for the State of California, it has been Mrs. Shultz’ job since 2004 to promote California on the global stage. To accomplish such a task, she has planned a multitude of events to highlight the many facets of the state’s economic and cultural life, from its technological capabilities and cosmopolitan business hubs, to its environmental diversity and scenic attractions. In her additional role as chief of protocol and director of special events for the City and County of San Francisco, Mrs. Shultz has served seven different mayors of San Francisco in a similar function, organizing, among other events, the visits of numerous foreign dignitaries to the Bay Area. Mrs. Shultz is no stranger to either civic involvement or civic honors. She is widely acknowledged as responsible for having revived the San Francisco Symphony’s Black and White Ball, for which she served as chair in 1982, ’83, ’85 and ’87. Currently she serves on the boards of the San Francisco Ballet, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the War Memorial Performing Arts Center, the World Affairs Council of Northern California, and The Commonwealth Club of California. She has been named the State of California Woman of the Year and received the United Nations Association of San Francisco’s Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Also being honored at the annual celebration are Jack O'Neill, founder and chairman of the board of O’Neill Wetsuits; Pixar Animation Studios' writer and director Brad Bird; and Dr. Bill Rutter, chairman and CEO of Synergenics. As leaders and innovators, these distinguished citizens embody “The Spirit of California” in creative, technological, civic, entrepreneurial, environmental, and, increasingly, global contexts.

Visit our web site for more information on The Commonwealth Club's 107th Anniversary and 22nd Annual Distinguished Citizen Award Dinner.

Pixar's Brad Bird to Receive Distinguished Citizen Award at Commonwealth Club Gala

The Commonwealth Club of California will present its prestigious 2010 Distinguished Citizen Award to Oscar-winning director and writer Brad Bird of Emeryville-based Pixar Animation Studios.

The award will be given to Bird for his invaluable contributions to California at the Club’s 22nd Annual Distinguished Citizen Award Dinner, which will take place April 29, 2010, at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

Bird is perhaps best known for his work as director of the animated films Ratatouille and The Incredibles, for which he also holds the sole writing credit. His films have consistently utilized the most cutting-edge animation technologies. They have additionally benefited from Bird’s proven ability to foster creativity among his production team by tapping into the potential of what he calls the studio’s “black sheep” animators.

Even before joining Pixar, Bird’s work in movies and television had garnered attention for its stunning originality and its emphasis on technological innovation. Bird also holds directorial and writing credits for the 1999 animated feature, The Iron Giant, which won the International Animated Film Society’s Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Feature. Along with Martin Scorsese and Clint Eastwood, Bird once directed an episode of Steven Spielberg’s 1980’s television show Amazing Stories. Bird’s contribution, however, was unique in featuring the first digitally recorded soundtrack on network television. Bird completed his first animated short at the age of 14. This feat would help him land a job at Walt Disney Studios in Southern California, where he would receive mentoring from famed animators Milt Kahl and Eric Larson.

Also being honored at the annual celebration are Jack O'Neill, founder and chairman of the board of O’Neill Wetsuits; the Honorable George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State, and his wife, California and San Francisco Chief of Protocol Charlotte Mailliard Shultz; and Dr. Bill Rutter, chairman and CEO of Synergenics. As leaders and innovators, these distinguished citizens embody “The Spirit of California” in creative, technological, civic, entrepreneurial, environmental, and, increasingly, global contexts.

Visit our web site for more information on The Commonwealth Club's 107th Anniversary and 22nd Annual Distinguished Citizen Award Dinner.

Obama’s Order a Stem-Cell a Cure-All for the Controversy?

“Today, with the Executive Order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers; doctors and innovators; patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: we will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research.”

With these words and the stroke of a pen (well, six pens, technically), President Obama today made good on a much-anticipated campaign promise to lift restrictions on research that could yield new treatments for patients with spinal injuries, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and other life-threatening conditions.

Before Obama’s executive order, limits imposed in 2001 by President Bush blocked federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and restricted it to the use of existing lines. He twice vetoed congressional attempts to overturn the ban -- which many critics saw as an attempt to placate the most conservative segment of his supporters. By way of explanation, Bush said at the time, “It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect.”

Obama dismissed that approach as offering “a false choice between sound science and moral values.” And support for his decision, while predictably enthusiastic among patient-advocate groups and research institutions, also comes from some less likely corners: A Boston Globe roundup of standpoints from assorted religious leaders lends credence to Obama’s that while at times demands of faith and science must strike a “difficult and delicate balance,” the two are “not inconsistent.”

But even setting aside criticism from those like Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner -- who says Obama has “rolled back important protections for innocent life” -- assorted other challenges to the success of the research remain. The Christian Science Monitor cites one market analyst who predicts the executive order will have little immediate effect on the industry, which is currently geared toward less controversial adult stem cell research.

Additional obstacles -- from the minefield of intellectual property law to the shortage of capital in tough economic times -- may further delay realization of the field’s much-lauded potential. On Wednesday, March 18, you can get the latest outlook for stem cell research from one of its leading advocates, Bernard Siegel of the Genetics Policy Institute. Join him for “Stem Cell Advocacy 2.0: The Role of the Stem Cell Consumer Movement in the Obama Era” at noon in the club office. (For more information, check Club web site.)

--By Alia Salim