89 FOR 1989 : Meet Southern California's Rising Stars

January 01, 1989

For UCLA economics professor Sebastian Edwards, 35, the financial crisis in Latin America has personal meaning because he was raised in Chile and educated there until he came to the University of Chicago to earn his Ph.D. As a consultant for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, he now visits Central and South America to help shape policies. Edwards, whose new book about currency devaluation is due in March, is an expert on Third World debt. Despite the more than $300-billion total owed to foreign lenders by just Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Chile, he sees "some room for hope" in efforts by the World Bank to encourage reforms and export growth in Latin America.

For the Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday January 1, 1989 Home Edition Part 1 Page 3 Column 5 Advance Desk 9 inches; 307 words Type of Material: Correction
Because of a mistake by a pre-print production house supplying The Times, three photographs in today's Los Angeles Times Magazine were incorrectly paired with profiles in the "89 for '89" special issue. The correct versions: STEVEN CORBIN, Novelist When Corbin, 35, was growing up, his grandmother captivated him with stories about Harlem of the 1920s--the glamour, the elegance, the clubs. His first novel, "No Easy Place to Be," pays tribute to the Harlem Renaissance era. Simon & Schuster will publish the historical epic next month. A selection of the Literary Guild, the book also seems a likely prospect for the movies. Corbin, who teaches fiction writing at UCLA, did a reading in New York six weeks ago with Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. In the audience was E.L. Doctorow--with whom Corbin has been critically compared.
HUGH M. DAVIES, museum director When Davies became director of the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art five years ago, it was, in his words, "insular and doctrinaire" with "the appearance of elitism." But Davies, 40, buried that image with a far-ranging exhibit schedule and a downtown exhibition annex that plopped the museum in the midst of San Diego's gritty arts district--and the museum's annual attendance rate tripled. Now on his second five-year contract, Davies is about to oversee an expansion program that will include an $11-million Robert Venturi-designed overhaul of the bluff-side La Jolla facility and the addition of several thousand square feet to the downtown space. STEVEN EHRLICH, architect Ehrlich can stand in the middle of Windward Circle in Venice with a sense of accomplishment. Soon to be completed there is the last of three exuberantly high-tech buildings that he designed to energize the historic traffic circle. In addition to this ambitious mix of shops, offices and studios, Ehrlich's flashy design for a deli is taking form in downtown Santa Monica and, later this year, the construction of a fanciful gymnasium and community center in the Mid-Wilshire District's Shatto Park is scheduled to begin. Throw in commissions for residences, and it's easy to see why this 42-year-old architect's career has moved into high gear.
PHOTO: STEVEN CORBIN
PHOTO: HUGH M. DAVIES
PHOTO: STEVEN EHRLICH

LEO CHAVEZ, anthropologist

Hoping to finally attain a footing on the path to the American dream, 1.5 million undocumented immigrants applied for amnesty last year. Their lives and struggles were examined in the 1987 PBS documentary "In the Shadow of the Law," based on the research of Leo Chavez, assistant professor of anthropology at UC Irvine. Now, Chavez, 37, plans to focus his research and writing on the people who remain in the United States even though they don't qualify for amnesty. His goal, he explains, is to promote tolerance, especially in the ethnic potpourri Southern California has become. "We have such diversity here," he says. "That's what is so great about this place."

STEVEN LAVINE, CalArts president

The new leader of California Institute of the Arts has his sights set beyond the confines of its Valencia campus. Vowing to "change the cultural geography of Los Angeles," Lavine, 40, has begun his tenure by bringing artists from different cultures to teach at CalArts and to share their work with Southern California. In his six months as president, he has also met with a wide range of local artists and arts supporters--urging them to work together. Says MOCA Director Richard Koshalek: "I think the result of his appointment is going to be very important to the city."

DENNIS M. SMITH, school superintendent

People in Laguna Beach are used to seeing their energetic superintendent of schools running around. Literally. "I like to run because it's healthy and reduces stress," says Dennis M. Smith, 37. "And I'm usually timing myself, trying to better my time." Since taking over Laguna Beach Unified School District in June 1986, Smith has steered it to higher test scores and a National Distinguished School Award. This year, he says, the 10-year decline in the district's enrollment is expected to reverse as new subdivisions are built--"and our challenge is to keep the small-town atmosphere of our education as we get bigger."

POLITICS

C. CHRISTOPHER COX, Congressman

National conservatives are expecting big things from Cox, a 36-year-old attorney elected last fall to replace retiring Orange County Republican Rep. Robert E. Badham. With a seat seemingly safe from serious challenge, demonstrated fund-raising ability, sharply articulated hard-line views on domestic and foreign policy issues and good ties to national conservatives (he worked in the White House counsel's office for Ronald Reagan and brought out Oliver North to campaign for him), Cox could quickly emerge as one of the GOP's young stars in Congress.

KATHY GARMEZY, political organizer

A former community organizer who has directed the Los Angeles office of the AFL-CIO's Labor Institute of Public Affairs since 1985 , Garmezy, 39 , is well respected locally as a savvy political operative. During the presidential campaign last fall, she took a giant step forward as executive director of the $5.3-million "California Campaign '88"--the largest voter-registration campaign organization that state Democrats have ever assembled. Now she is looking for ways to use the media skills she's been honing at the institute to help sustain the unprecedented grass-roots organization of 40,000 volunteers that the Democrats built during the campaign.

MARIA L. HSIA, political fund-raiser

Hsia, 37, is at the center of a predominantly Asian group of fund-raisers rapidly emerging as a major force in Los Angeles' hotly competitive political money scene. Last fall, the group raised substantial sums for, among others, the Dukakis and McCarthy campaigns. Throughout 1989, it's leading delegations of senators and congressmen on tours of the Far East. Hsia, who came to Los Angeles from Taiwan 18 years ago and now works as the administrative director of an immigration law office, believes that the days of Asian immigrants shying away from political involvement are over--and that raising money is the best way for them to present their views for consideration.

TOM LaBONGE, political aide