Ex-Grossmont School Board Members Pledge $2 Million to UCLA

Updated at 1:40 p.m. Thursday

Two 1990s member of the Grossmont Union High School District governing board have pledged $2 million to the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery, the Los Angeles school says.

The donors are Thomas and Nadia Davies, who have a home near* La Mesa, according to the school. The donation is in memory of their late daughter, Alfonsina “Nina” Q. Davies, and also honors Dr. Paul Crandall, the UCLA neurosurgeon who ended her epileptic seizures.
 
“The family invested more than a decade in seeking ways to stop the uncontrollable seizures that had assailed their daughter since birth,” the school said. “The neurologists they met offered only temporary solutions.”
 
When the Davieses arrived at UCLA in 1977, they consulted with Crandall, UCLA said.

The founder of UCLA’s first epilepsy surgery research program, Crandall had been developing experimental treatments since the early 1960s, UCLA said. He is now retired and a professor emeritus of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
 
“Crandall suggested an experimental surgery to control Nina’s intractable epilepsy,” UCLA said.

At the time, few surgical programs for epilepsy existed in the country, and doctors were often reluctant to consider a surgical approach to treating the disease. 
 
“Dr. Crandall’s scientific knowledge and surgical skills saved our daughter's life,” Nadia Davies said. “We are eternally grateful for his lifelong study of surgical interventions to prevent epileptic seizures.”
 
After her surgery, Nina completed college and realized her dream of becoming a teacher, UCLA said.

She went on to earn a doctoral degree in education, eventually becoming assistant superintendent for the Santa Ana Unified School District. She helped many students with disabilities, both social and physical, relating firsthand to the difficulties they faced.

Nina died at 52 this year from what is known as sudden unexplained death in epilepsy, or SUDEP, a rare outcome for those who suffer from the disease, UCLA said.

Nina Davies, attended Ross Elementary School and Lewis Junior High School, UCLA said.  She graduated from Patrick Henry High School in the mid-1970s.  She earned her bachelor's degree at Point Loma Nazarene College, a master's degree from San Diego State University and a doctorate from Northern Arizona University.

 The Davieses have established the Alfonsina Q. Davies Endowed Chair in honor of Crandall.

“We are extremely grateful to the Davieses for their generosity and support,” said Dr. Neil Martin, chairman of the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery. “This gift will pay tribute to Nina’s life by benefiting other patients for generations. Hundreds of children and adults with epilepsy worldwide have been cured by physicians using the techniques and technologies developed at UCLA.”

To contribute to UCLA’s epilepsy research program, contact Leti Light, director of development, at llight@support.ucla.edu or 310-267-9475.

Thomas and Nadia Davies were controversial members of the high school district governing board. A court ordered Thomas seated in 1991 after he first was barred from joining the board.

Nadia, a former Teacher of the Year in the district, resigned from the board in 1998, just before a successful recall vote.

The Davieses are longtime residents of San Diego who moved to Hawaii after their retirement, and recently bought a home in another state, said Elaine Schmidt, a UCLA spokeswoman. 

“They still maintain a residence near La Mesa, and are proud of their past work on the Grossmont Union High School District board,” Schmidt said.

*Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Thomas and Nadia Davies live in La Mesa.