Gene D. Block
Gene David Block is an American biologist, academic, inventor, and chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles. He attended Stanford University for his BA, and subsequently received his MS and PhD in psychology from the University of Oregon in 1975. Block was then provost and professor of biology at the University of Virginia. While at the University of Virginia, Block interacted with Randy Pausch and is mentioned in his memoir, The Last Lecture.
Block was born in Monticello, New York, the grandson of Eastern European immigrants. His father and uncle owned Mountain Dairies, a retailwholesale distributor that served many of the hotels and camps that populated the Catskill region of New York. During high school summers he worked at the dairy as a truck driver, starting his days at 4am for early morning deliveries to summer camps and hotels. He also played piano in a trio that provided dance music for Saturday evening parties at several bungalow colonies within the Borscht Belt. His hobbies included electronics and shortwave radio. He played varsity tennis at Monticello High School. He is Jewish.
Source: Wikipedia