Doug Freeman, aka “Mr. OC Philanthropy,” and his wife, Lynn, were in Oslo recently to participate in the Kavli Prize, a biennial event sponsored by Norway and the Los Angeles-based Kavli Foundation, of which Doug is a director.
Started by the late Norwegian American engineer, entrepreneur and philanthropist Fred Kavli, the prize is a sort of alternate Nobel, with a similarly sized monetary award. The foundation awards $1 million each to winners in the categories of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience.
Oswald Steward, a neuroscientist at UCI — where Fred Kavli had been a benefactor — shared in one of this year’s prizes, for his studies into how neurons build, strengthen and modify connections in the brain.
This year’s ceremony was marked by sadness over
This year’s ceremony was marked by sadness over the passing — on the same day, and just four days before the event — of two friends of Fred Kavli who were among his foundation’s most prominent figures: Norway’s King Harald V, a regular attendee of the ceremony, and foundation chairman Rockell “Rock” Hankin.
Hankin, of San Juan Capistrano, was a corporate consultant and director who lectured at USC, UCLA, UNC Charlotte and other universities.
Doug Freeman — who started National Philanthropy Day and now serves as executive chair for Irvine’s OC Music & Dance — and his wife ran into another OC couple at London Heathrow: retired Pacific Life exec Mary Ann Brown and OCBJ Editor-at-Large Rick Reiff, who were boarding the same British Airways flight back to LAX.
Brown and Reiff had also been in Norway,
Brown and Reiff had also been in Norway, on a cruise to some of the country’s spectacular fjords.
Anduril Industries’ Palmer Luckey has gone Hollywood and given one actor a fun role to play.
In the latest episode of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso — which chronicles an American football coach who goes to England to coach a local soccer team — a couple characters attend a party with an eclectic guest list.
Who is the guy dressed like Ace Ventura
Who “is the guy dressed like Ace Ventura” asked one character to another, noting a goateed partygoer (not Luckey, but an actor portraying him) sporting a Hawaiian short and cargo pants.
“He is the richest guy here. He basically invented virtual reality but now he makes weapons,” the other character responded.
Palmer Luckey isn’t sweating the loss of an autonomous drone submarine made by Anduril Industries, which was captured by Iran earlier this month near the Strait of Hormuz.
Reports from the Navy claimed the drone had
Reports from the Navy claimed the drone had been “dead in the water for more than a day” prior to Iran seizing the vessel.
Luckey,rea for “thousands of hours” before it malfunctioned
The drone “was explicitly designed to operate in environments too dangerous for humans where capture is an expected possibility,” Luckey said. “It provided significant value for months before capture.
“Rest in peace, little buddy.”
