Orli Belman, a seasoned communications professional and UCLA graduate, has joined UCLA Law as the school’s assistant dean of communications.

Belman started in the role in January after a long tenure of service overseeing an array of communications initiatives at the University of Southern California. Most recently, she spent nine years at the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. There, she directed communications for the largest school devoted to the study of aging and contributed to boosting school applications, donations, and visibility through digital marketing and media relations efforts, including producing the popular Lessons in Lifespan Health podcast. At other stops in her nearly two-decade career at USC, she led public relations at the Institute for Creative Technologies and served in the university’s central communications office.

A former broadcast journalist, Belman began her career at the PBS documentary series Frontline and NBC News. She earned master’s degrees in journalism from Columbia University and gerontology from USC.

The return to Westwood is a homecoming for Belman, who received her undergraduate degree from UCLA. “It’s such a thrill to be back at UCLA and on the same campus where I experienced some of the best moments of my life, when I was a college student,” says Belman, who proudly displays in her law school office a framed edition of the Los Angeles Times sports section front page featuring UCLA’s 1995 men’s basketball championship – which the head coach and five starting players signed for her.

“Beyond my overall love of UCLA, I am especially excited to be at the law school, which I have admired for years and whose excellent reputation far proceeds it,” she adds. “The faculty and students here are taking on the most urgent issues facing our society, and I am honored to amplify their inspiring work.”