Bruce M. Brusavich of Torrance is the...

Bruce M. Brusavich of Torrance is the recipient of the 1988 Trial Lawyer of the Year award. The award, given by Verdictum Juris, a jury verdict research and publication firm, is based upon outstanding performance in civil jury trials during the year. Brusavich won the award after obtaining four verdicts for plaintiffs, averaging more than $767,805 each. The largest verdict was $2,469,780, awarded to the family of a man who was crushed to death when an O-ring, being shipped to Morton Thiokol in Utah for use in the space shuttle, fell off a railroad car. The verdict was awarded in Los Angeles Superior Court against the company that loaded the boxcar.

George Nakano, mayor pro tem of Torrance, has been elected president of the South Bay Cities Assn., effective May 1. The association was founded in 1954 to develop cooperation between local governments in the South Bay and to seek solutions to common problems through joint efforts. Membership is composed of mayors and council members from the cities of Carson, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates and Torrance.

Manhattan Beach resident Elsa Garmire is one of two USC engineers elected this year to the National Academy of Engineering. Garmire is director of USC’s Center for Laser Studies and professor of electrical engineering and physics. Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer. Also elected was George A. Bekey, director of USC’s Center for Manufacturing and Automation Research, chairman of the computer science department, and professor of computer science and electrical engineering.

Robert Wassertheur of Manhattan Beach has been elected chairman of the Public Works Commission of that city. He is director of security for California Federal Savings & Loan Assn. of Los Angeles.

Three El Segundo High School seniors are recipients of BPW Career Girl Scholarships, awarded by the El Segundo Business and Professional Women’s Organization. Chosen from among the top 10 women graduates of El Segundo High School are: Sheila McPadden, first place, who plans a career as a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office; Christine Acup, second place, who wants to be a pediatric nurse; Ceteka Carson, third place, who plans to be a package designer and visual display artist. Selection of winners was based on a “speak-off” judged by El Segundo Mayor Carl Jacobson, Councilman Bob Anderson, and Eileen Hunter, assistant to the mayor, council and city manager.

George T. Scharffenberger of Palos Verdes Peninsula and New York City has been selected as one of two 1989 winners of Distinguished Service Awards from the Assn. of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Scharffenberger is chairman of the board of trustees of USC. He has served on the board since 1973 and on five committees, including as chairman of the University Planning Committee and the university’s first Academic Affairs Committee. As chairman of the Home Group Inc., headquartered in New York City, he presides over a $13-billion insurance and financial services holding company.

Patrick Spargur of Wilmington has been named a Big Brother with the Catholic Big Brothers Program. Spargur, a collections supervisor at Medac Inc., grew up without a father and became a Big Brother to offer the companionship that was missing in his own childhood. He was matched with Sylvester Chapple of Gardena. Catholic Big Brothers is a United Way agency. For information call 250-7436.

Amye Leong of the Palos Verdes Peninsula has received the National Volunteer Service Citation of the Arthritis Foundation. In conjunction with the foundation, Leong founded a support group for young adults with arthritis, “Young Et Heart,” which now has several offshoots throughout Southern California. Leong, who has rheumatoid arthritis, serves on various national committees for the Arthritis Foundation, has lobbied on its behalf and is vice chairman of the recently formed Surgeon General’s National Council on Self-Help and Public Health, where she represents the interests of arthritics.

The Harbor Area YWCA has announced the appointment of Helene Pizzini as executive director. A native of New York, Pizzini is an honors graduate with a degree in psychology and a master’s in education. She and her husband, Quentin, a professor at USC, have been San Pedro residents for several years.

Nancy Lee Fernas has been named executive director of the Torrance YWCA, replacing Hope Witkowski, who served for the past five years. Fernas has been a branch director for the Los Angeles YWCA, serving the West Los Angeles-Beverly Hills area, for the past 18 months. Previously she was public relations assistant with the San Pedro-Peninsula YWCA and was associate editor for the Los Angeles Athletic Club. A graduate of Leuzinger High School, El Camino College and Pepperdine University, Fernas has a bachelor’s in journalism and has attended the YWCA National Training Center in Phoenix, Ariz. She and her husband, Robert, live in Torrance.

George E. Magnusson, retired principal of Pacific Shores High School in Manhattan Beach, has been named mission president of the Provo Utah Mission, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was Torrance president in the LDS (Mormon) church, overseeing six congregations. Magnusson and his wife, Marian, will serve in Utah for three years.

Chester Gottlieb, M.D., a specialist in internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology, has been appointed chief of staff at Community Hospital of Gardena. He is associate clinical professor of medicine at UCLA School of Medicine and teaches at Harbor General Hospital.

Marilyn Kammerer, director of volunteer services at Little Company of Mary Hospital, Torrance, for more than nine years, has received an award for excellence from the Southern California Assn. Directors of Volunteer Services.

Hawthorne resident Larry Gallagher is the new director of the West Basin Municipal Water District, Division 5, representing Gardena, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Lennox and a portion of Inglewood. He is also a risk manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and is former Lawndale safety director. The West Basin district, with offices in Redondo Beach, serves an area from Malibu to San Pedro and from the Harbor Freeway to the Pacific Ocean.

Jean Saffo of Rolling Hills has received the 1988 Citizen of the Year award from the Palos Verdes Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Palos Verdes. Saffo has served for 10 years on the board of trustees for Marymount College, was a founding member of the Saturday Conservatory of Music, honorary director of South Bay Chamber Music, and a leader for 4H, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts. She served on the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District site utilization committee, is active in the Community Arts Assn., the League of Women Voters, church, hospice, and school support groups.