Dinosaur Ball 2021

Dinosaur Ball

Thank you for making the 2021 Dinosaur Ball a Success! 
 

Thanks to the extraordinary leadership of our co-chairs, Nancy and John Edwards, Shannon and Dionne Faulk, and Curtis Jung and Lynn Hatashita-Jung, and the generosity of supporters like you, we raised over $900,000 to fund a robust program of distance-learning resources that connect hundreds of thousands of students with science, nature, history, and culture. 

Welcoming over 330 attendees to the virtual gala on May 15, we celebrated the continuity of our groundbreaking work despite the challenges of the global pandemic and honored one of the most inspiring voices of our generation, Jared M. Diamond, Pulitzer prize-winning author and Professor of Geography at UCLA. The evening featured remarks from NHMLAC President and Director Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga, and a conversation with Jared M. Diamond and Los Angeles Times journalist Patt Morrison. We also experienced a new virtual exhibition unveiling Gnatalie, our recently excavated green sauropod, and a behind-the-scenes tour highlighting how our researchers' work informs current debates on species extinction and climate change. 

Our family of museums is dedicated to inspiring wonder, discovery and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds, and we are so grateful for your partnership in this. If you would like to contribute to NHMLAC's Virtual Classroom initiative please click the donate button below or contact Cristina Rosales, Director of Individual Giving, at 213.763.3253 or crosales@nhm.org.

Co-Chairs
Nancy and John Edwards
Shannon and Dionne Faulk
Curtis Jung and Lynn Hatashita-Jung

Jared Diamond is a Pulitzer prize-winning author of five best-selling books, translated into 38 languages, about human societies and human evolution: Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, Why Is Sex Fun?, The Third Chimpanzee, and The World Until Yesterday. As a professor of geography at UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles), he is known for his breadth of interests, which involves conducting research and teaching in three other fields: the biology of New Guinea birds, digestive physiology, and conservation biology. His prizes and honors include the U.S. National Medal of Science, the Pulitzer Prize for Non-fiction, the Tyler Prize for Environmental Science, and election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. As a biological explorer, his most widely publicized finding was his rediscovery, at the top of New Guinea’s remote Foja Mountains, of the long-lost Golden-fronted Bowerbird, previously known only from four specimens found in a Paris feather shop in 1895.

Thank You to Our Generous Supporters

Los Angeles county Supervisors

Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, First District
Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, Second District
Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, Third District
Supervisor Janice Hahn, Fourth District
Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Fifth District

Lead sponsor

Payden and Rygel

HOSTs

Nancy and John Edwards
The Stone Family Fund

Partners

The Ahmanson Foundation
Gretchen Augustyn
Heather and Dirk de Roos
Robert T. Friedman
Alexander and Elizabeth Kendall
Gregg and Lisa Martin
Megan McGowan Epstein and Alan Epstein
Jon and Kathleen Peacock
University of Southern California

Patrons

California Community Foundation
California Wellness Foundation, Joe and Denise Lumarda
Esther S. M. Chui-Chao
Kermit and Tina Crawford
Frederick Fisher and Partners
Mark and Jane Gavens
Hobson / Lucas Family Foundation
John A. Martin & Associates, Inc.
Curtis C. Jung and Lynn Hatashita Jung
Jennifer and Rick Keller
Walter N. Marks Inc.
Matt Construction Corporation
Sarah Meeker Jensen
Diane Naegele
Jane and Mark Pisano
Peter and Marcie Scranton
Studio Joseph
STUDIO-MLA
TheatreDNA

Supporters

Angeleno Group 
Angeles Investment Advisors, LLC
Bel Air Investment Advisors
Ambassador Frank and Kathrine Baxter
Diane and Jim Berliner
Lori Bettison-Varga and Robert Varga
Neal and Molly Brockmeyer
Capital Group Companies, Inc.
Janice Holland
Dr. Marcus Horwtiz and Ms. Helene DesRuisseaux
Andrew Jameson and Nadine Watt Jameson
Christopher Knight
Anita and Vince Lawler
Margaret Levy
Franklin G. Moser and Caroline Labiner Moser
Bruce and Nancy Newberg
Bob and Kathy Patterson
K. John and Monica W. Shaffer
Michael Silver
Brig Troy and Alden Lawrence
Larry Walraven