This article originally appeared in the Fall 2019 issue of CSUDH Magazine. Gratitude is a familiar concept, but one that can be hard to specifically pin down, says Giacomo Bono. "Just like well-being or success, how do you define it?" "Sometimes I joke that gratitude is the most underappreciated value. People value it, but it's really a question of how you practice it. Even thought it seems like a simple behavior, the more you look at it, and the more you genuinely try to live up to it and practice it, the more meaningful your life gets." Bono, an assistant professor of psychology at CSUDH and co-author of the book Making Grateful Kids: The Science of Building Character, has spent ... Read More
College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences
A Helping Hand: CSUDH Alumna Uses Her Past to Inspire Others
“I've come a long way,” said CSUDH alumna Teresa Ramirez, reflecting on her college and career path. A first-generation Mexican-American born in Torrance, and raised in Compton, Ramirez was the first member of her family to pursue a college education. Ramirez was a self-described “shy, quiet, somewhat naïve” first-year college student. By the time she graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology, Ramirez had developed “the confidence that I needed to be a leader, someone who can communicate without being afraid.” Ramirez traces much of her success to being awarded a CSUDH Presidential Scholarship, the university's premiere scholarship program, in recognition of her outstanding ... Read More
John Price Receives Fifth DOE Grant to Continue Proton Research
John Price, professor of physics and interim dean of graduate studies and research at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), conducts original research in nuclear physics with his students, and their success has kept the funding coming in. Price recently received a three-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to expand “Nuclear Physics with Short-Lived Beams,” his ongoing experimental nuclear physics program in proton research. This is the fifth grant the DOE has awarded Price for the program since 2007. The funding covers research costs for Price and his students, including travel to the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in ... Read More
Katy Pinto Recognized with CSU System’s Faculty Innovation and Leadership Award
(Carson, CA) -Katy Pinto, a professor of sociology at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), has been honored by the California State University (CSU) with the Faculty Innovation and Leadership Award (FILA) for her innovative approach to student advisement that encourages self-advocacy and professional development. Pinto was one of 19 CSU faculty members to receive the award, which honors faculty who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership to advance student success. Awardees receive $5,000, as well as $10,000 allocated to their academic department in support of ongoing innovation and leadership to advance student achievement at the CSU. “I was ecstatic when I heard I ... Read More
David Puerta: Forging a Path in Biotechnology
When Forge Therapeutics COO and VP of Discovery David Puerta first set foot on the CSUDH campus, he wasn't sure what kind of career he wanted to pursue. As a first-generation college student, his (and his parents') initial goal had been to just get to college. After being recruited to play soccer for the Toros, he started classes with only a vague notion that he wanted to be involved in science. “I was always interested in science,” Puerta said, “but I didn't know where you could go with that in terms of a career, outside of being a physician or dentist..” Due to a close relationship with his chemistry professor, Leonardo Martinez, Puerta began to focus his studies on biotechnology. ... Read More
