UCI professor emerita and trustee recognized as Assembly District 74 Women of Distinction

Barbara Finlayson-Pitts, UCI Distinguished Professor emerita of chemistry, and UCI Foundation trustee Carol Choi have been named Assembly District 74 Women of Distinction 2021 by Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris. The awards, announced in March in honor of Women’s History Month, annually recognize six Orange County women for their extraordinary work, mentorship and leadership in the community. In addition, Finlayson-Pitts was honored for her research, education and outreach in helping California and the world address urgent challenges in air and water quality, human health and climate change. Choi, who earned a B.A. in psychology at UCI in 1985, serves as board chair for the Korean American Alumni Chapter of the UCI Alumni Association. She and her husband, Eugene, who earned a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1986 and an MBA in 2001 at UCI, are avid supporters of several endeavors across campus. They helped establish the UCI Korea Law Center, created an endowment for the UCI Center for Critical Korean Studies and backed the formation of the ANTrepreneur Center. In 2020, the couple received the Lauds & Laurels Extraordinarius award, the UCI Alumni Association’s highest honor.