Laguna Beach Art Museum Names Development Director

The Laguna Beach Museum of Art has named Nancy Carlson as director of development. Prior to the appointment, Carlson worked as a volunteer manager for the museum’s South Coast Plaza satellite site. She has been a member of the museum since 1978 and currently serves on the Foundations Board of public television station KOCE, the Woman’s Advisory Committee of the Orange County branch of the American Red Cross and the board of directors of Planned Parenthood of Orange County.

Tustin resident Paul Pursell has been named Physical Therapist of the Year by the Orange County district of the American Physical Therapy Assn. Pursell, director of physical rehabilitation at St. Joseph Hospital, is the only person to win the award twice. It is given for community work and the advancement of physical therapy.

Paul Evers, 23, of Newport Beach recently presented one of his paintings to Pope John Paul II. The painting depicts the Pope’s encounter with Mehmet Ali Agca in a Rome prison. Agca had tried to assassinate the Pope in May, 1981. Evers, an art student en route to Florence, made the presentation in Rome. In return, Evers received a rosary bearing the Pope’s coat of arms.

David McDonald, associate professor of drama at UC Irvine and Laguna Beach resident, has been invited to participate in a May symposium at Nieborow, Poland, near Warsaw. The event is sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies and the Polish Academy of Sciences Commission on Social Sciences and Humanities.

St. Joseph Hospital pharmacist Bob Wilkinson has been named Pharmacist of the Year by the Orange County Society of Hospital Pharmacists. He is a Yorba Linda resident.