UCLA CONVERSATIONS

UCLA Conversations were introduced in September 2023 as a joint program of the Retirees Association and the Emeriti. Stuart Wolpert, a retiree from UCLA's strategic communications office, invites faculty members (and occasionally other guests) to discuss current interests and topics. Typically he schedules his interviews for weekday afternoons at the Faculty Club.

On this page we feature videos of the UCLA Conversations as recorded by UCLARA's Michael Heafey. Special thanks to the Emeriti/Retiree Relations Center for hosting these videos on their YouTube channel. 

UCLA Conversations is the successor to the After Lunch Program. 

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UCLA Conversations

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Piano Recital by Alessio Santolini Raggi and Hongbo Cai and Conversation, February 2026. Brief conversation with Michael Beckerman, Dean, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, followed by Alessio’s piano recital — including music by Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann — and Hongbo’s piano recital, which includes George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (Solo Version).

UCLA Conversation with Dr. Dino Di Carlo, October 2025.

Dr. Di Carlo, UCLA Professor and Chair of Bioengineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, and a member of both the California NanoSystems Institute and Jonsson Cancer Center, spoke with Stuart Wolpert, director of UCLA Conversations. Dr. Di Carlo is a world-renowned UCLA professor, inventor, and entrepreneur who has made key innovations in biotechnology, co-founding five start-up companies. His laboratory has generated more than 80 U.S. patents. Topics included the implications of his discoveries for improving health and the impact of deep federal research cuts.

The Myths and Realities of Entitlement Programs in our Aging Nation, March 2026. Fernando Torres-Gil, Director of UCLA’s Center for Policy Research on Aging and UCLA Professor Emeritus of Social Welfare and Public Policy, and Daniel J.B. Mitchell, Professor Emeritus at UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management and UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, spoke at Belmont Village Senior Living in West Los Angeles. Professor Torres-Gil is a national expert on aging, health and long-term care, with extensive U.S. and California government experience. He shed light about on-going debates regarding the financial dilemmas facing Social Security and Medicare and what he describes as the scare tactics by both parties about the solutions for sustaining these programs as well as public and private pensions.

A Conversation with UCLA Women’s Basketball Coach, Cori Close, Oct. 15, 2025. , Cori Close, the Michael Price Family UCLA Women’s Head Basketball Coach, who swept the four Coach of the Year awards in 2025, spoke with Stuart Wolpert, director of UCLA Conversations. Topics included women’s basketball, her team’s program, her teaching and mentoring of young women, the recruiting of outstanding student-athletes, the upcoming season — in which she would lead her team to the NCAA championship — and lessons she learned from John Wooden. Coach Close has the most wins by a head coach in the history of UCLA’s women’s basketball.

The Molecular Basis of Aging and Dementia, May 2025. Two outstanding UCLA professors — Dr. Steven Clarke and Dr. David Eisenberg — discussed human aging, the area of their award-winning research. Dr. Clarke, a recipient of UCLA’s Eby Award for the Art of Teaching, studies biochemical mechanisms that recognize age-damaged molecules in the body for their removal before they cause disease. Dr. Eisenberg is UCLA’s Paul D. Boyer Professor of Molecular Biology, and member of both the National Academies of Sciences and Medicine, is among the world’s most highly cited scientists, and studies the molecular basis of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and therapeutic approaches to potentially limit their pathologies. Topics included the biochemistry of aging; molecular damage and molecular repair in aging; Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson's disease.

UCLA Conversation with Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt, May 2025. Dr. Hunt spoke with Stuart Wolpert, on major topics in higher education. Dr. Hunt previously served as UCLA’s Interim Chancellor, Dean of Social Sciences, Chair of Sociology, and Director of UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. He is a professor of sociology and African American studies and a distinguished scholar of media, race and culture, whose research has focused on the entertainment industry. Only half of this program was video-recorded.

Grace Chen, Terry Hsu Piano Recital and Conversation, January 2025. Grace Chen is a UCLA senior piano major studying under Inna Faliks, a renowned concert pianist and Professor and Head of the School’s Piano Department. Grace is also a computer science major, an accomplished painter, and a recipient of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music’s Falk Scholarship. Terry Hsu, a UCLA senior studying under the guidance of Professor David Kaplan, is a native of Taiwan, who embarked on his musical journey independently at age 14. At UCLA, he is both a distinguished Gluck Fellow and a recipient of the Emil Danenberg and Beatrice Zelkin Scholarships. The program includes music composed by Bach, Chopin, Brahms and more.

Implications of Artificial Intelligence with Christopher Kelly and Daniel Snelson, May 2024. Kelty holds appointments in the departments of Information Studies and Anthropology, and is active in the Institute for Society and Genetics. He is director of the Livescu Initiative on Neuro, Narrative and AI. Snelson, a UCLA assistant professor of English and Design Media Arts, is a writer, editor and archivist. The topics they discuss with moderator Stuart Wolpert include how AI may impact creativity, art, culture, education, jobs and more. 

Aging and the Brain with Ming Guo, April 2024. Ming Guo holds UCLA’s Laurie and Steven C. Gordon Chair in Neurosciences and is a professor of Neurology, Molecular & Medical Pharmacology at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine as well as Director of UCLA’s Aging Center. Her research focuses on the molecular basis of diseases including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. She studies the nervous system of fruit flies as a model for studying the basis of human disease.

Mindfulness with Sara Melzer, March 2024.  Professor Sara Melzer is currently writing two books, one about mindfulness and photography, and a second on mindfulness and tango. She is a professor emeritus of French and Francophone Studies whose research expertise includes French colonialism in the Classical age and understanding contemporary France through the Classical age. She integrated mindfulness techniques into her teaching of several courses in the Humanities. Professor Melzer is a certified mindfulness coach and has wise insights on topics including how mindfulness can improve not only our focus, but also our relationships and our health.

Travel with UCLA Alumni and UCLA Retirees Association, March 2024. Christel Aragon is director of Alumni Travel at the UCLA Alumni Association, with more than 30 years of experience in the travel industry. Dolores Dyer is director of travel for the UCLA Retirees Association, often accompanying UC travelers to Europe, South Africa, and other destinations. Here they talk with Stuart Wolpert about their respective travel programs and upcoming trips. 

Piano Concert and Memoir with Inna Faliks, January 2024. Inna Faliks, professor and head of the piano department in the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, performs a piano concert on the Faculty Club's Steinway B. Interspersed among the musical selections are readings from her memoir, Weight in the Fingertips: A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage. The memoir details her exploration of Bach’s brilliant music as she grew up in Odessa and became a child prodigy.

The Importance of the Humanities with David Schaberg, October 2023. David Schaberg, professor of Asian Languages and Cultures, served as Dean of Humanities from 2011 to 2022. An eloquent advocate for the humanities, Schaberg brings perspective on the role of the humanities in the training of students and the making of societies His research is distinguished by his mastery of Chinese, Greek and Latin, his knowledge of the primary historical texts from each culture, and his ability to examine those works through the prism of the latest literary and critical theories. His research serves as a window into our understanding of early China, and helps us to understand Chinese ideas today.