Countywide : United Way Honors 6 Latinos for Efforts

Latino professionals were honored by United Way of Orange County this week for their community contributions through business and volunteer efforts.

All six honorees had been named in the October issue of Hispanic Business Magazine as being among the “100 Influentials” nationwide.

They were:

* Mary Alice Acevedo, the Republican challenger in this month’s 50th Congressional District race (won by incumbent Bob Filner of San Diego);

* Francisco Ayala, a professor of ecology at UC Irvine;

* David E. Hayes-Bautista, a professor and director of the UCLA School of Medicine;

* George Pla, president and chief executive officer of Cordoba Corp. in Los Angeles;

* Alfred Ramirez, director of the White House Initiative for Hispanic Education in Washington,

* Eloy Rodriguez, a professor of environmental biology at Cornell University.

United Way’s Hispanic Development Council hosted the awards reception at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach. The council is designed to promote leadership, volunteerism and philanthropy among Latinos.

Proceeds from the reception will support United Way’s Latino Community Issues Fund.