Michael Kaplan, lawyer and real estate investor and City of Hope Board of Directors member, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree from City of Hope Graduate School of Biological Sciences at the graduate school’s 12th annual commencement ceremony on June 9.
“Michael Kaplan has achieved extraordinary success in business and is known for his meaningful and dedicated service to the graduate school and the research programs of City of Hope,” said John J. Rossi, Ph.D., professor and chair, Division of Molecular Biology, and dean of the Graduate School of Biological Sciences. “We’re honored to present him with the graduate school’s highest academic recognition, a Doctor of Science, in appreciation of his enthusiastic and ardent support.”
Kaplan serves on the national board for City of Hope, and has served as chair of the Beckman Research Institute board and as a trustee emeritus of the University of San Diego. He is co-partner with his brother and sister in ARKA Properties Group, a real estate management firm based in Los Angeles that owns and manages properties in 14 states.
“I invest my time and energy in City of Hope because I believe it is a place where the heart of caring and the mind of science come together to provide the best outcomes for patients with life-threatening diseases,” said Kaplan. “To receive an honorary doctorate degree is a privilege. To receive an honorary doctorate degree from City of Hope is an honor.”
Kaplan began his real estate career in 1976 with a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based, custom-home-building business he operated with his brother. He went on to form the KB Management Company in 1977, a real estate partnership that grew to more than 200 properties by 1988. Concurrently, Kaplan founded and owned a retail men’s clothing store. Prior to his emergence as a business entrepreneur, he was a deputy city attorney for the City of Los Angeles and had a private law practice. Kaplan has been a member of the State Bar of California since 1972.
City of Hope Graduate School of Biological Sciences is a fully accredited program that trains students in the fields of chemical, molecular and cellular biology. Students earning doctoral degrees in biological sciences in 2006 are Bret S. E. Heale, Vania E. Kenanova, Ren Liu, Michelle Suzanne Navarro, Saurabh Sahar, Jing Song and Reena Parada Vishwanath.
Past recipients of the honorary Doctor of Science degree include Richard S. Ziman, chairman and chief executive officer of West Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm Arden Realty Inc., and Meyer E. Hersch, founder and general partner of Hersch and Company, which produces social interactive board and electronic games.
