Dr. James H. Garrity of Torrance has...

Dr. James H. Garrity of Torrance has been appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley to the Los Angeles Task Force on Ethical Standards for Charities. The members of the task force are top executives and volunteers from a broad range of charities and nonprofit organizations. Garrity is executive director of the John Tracy Clinic, a nonprofit educational and support organization for preschool hearing-impaired children and their families. He and other task force members will develop specific ethical standards, principles and practices in such areas as fund-raising costs and practices; accountability and public disclosure, and conflicts of interest.

Bonnie Neumann has been appointed vice president for academic affairs and provost at Northrop University. Neumann has more than 24 years of experience in academia. Most recently she was dean of undergraduate studies at San Diego State University, where she also taught in the English department. Prior to coming to California, Neumann was for 13 years on the University of Wisconsin faculty.

Two Torrance high school students have received awards from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., for outstanding achievements in the study of mathematics and science during their junior year. Trudy Lui from Narbonne High School and Edwin Chan from South High School are recipients of the Rensselaer Medal.

Six women were honored in the 1990 juried exhibition “Women Painters West.” Winners and their awards are: Joyce Cole Lorber, Women Painters of the West Award; Louise Brockway Anderson, Pearl Guenther Memorial Award, and Ellen Rose, Evylena Nunn Miller Memorial Award. Recipients of honorable mentions include Barbara Berry, Geri Coleman and Beverly Girvigian. Women Painters West is a professional organization of women artists, which offers scholarships and art programs in addition to sponsoring annual group exhibitions for its members. Their exhibition, now at the Palos Verdes Art Center, includes works in acrylics, watercolor, casein, collage, serigraphy and and other graphics. The show may be viewed by appointment through Sept. 29. Call 541-2479.

Ralph Lin, a graduate of Miraleste High School in Rancho Palos Verdes, is among a group of undergraduate students doing independent scientific research as part of Caltech’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) program. Lin, a senior in biology, has been working with Dr. Seymour Benzer on a research project entitled “Characterization of the drd Gene in Drosophila melanogaster. “ He is the son of Bella Lin and Wen-Kuan Lin of Rancho Palos Verdes. The Caltech SURF program offers undergraduates an opportunity to do research that they initiate and to work on a one-to-one basis with a faculty member. Interested students write proposals that, if accepted, are funded for a summer stipend of $3,000. The research sponsor provides lab space and equipment. This year’s sponsors include 97 Caltech faculty members and Jet Propulsion Laboratory technical staff members, and three other off-campus academicians.

Hermosa Beach City Manager Kevin B. Northcraft has announced the appointment of Cynthia A. Wilson to the position of general services director for the city. Wilson was selected from a pool of candidates from California, Arizona and Nevada. She was previously with Hughes Aircraft Co., where she was a data management supervisor; she has a bachelor of science degree in business management from Pepperdine University. As general services director, Wilson will be responsible for the city’s data processing, parking enforcement, animal control, and “non-safety” telecommunications divisions. She replaces Joan Noon who retired.