Campus Life

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Roland Winston, a pioneer in solar energy, engineering and physics, died Feb. 8 at the age of 88 at his home in Merced.

A founding faculty member in the schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering at UC Merced, Winston also founded and directed the intercampus collaborative Advanced Solar Technologies Institute, known as UC Solar.

His research and teaching focused on concentrating solar energy systems. Winston published hundreds of articles in scientific journals, co-wrote several books and held more than 50 patents.

This story is part of a series for Black History Month. Read more stories highlighting Black excellence at UC Merced.

The Black Scholars Resource Center might be one of UC Merced’s best-kept secrets, although its leaders hope that changes soon.

A lot happened in 2024. Thankfully, we have some very talented photographers to document it all! Enjoy this look back at some of the images of the past year. 

2024 was a remarkable year for UC Merced. From groundbreaking research and academic excellence to inspiring student achievements and impactful community engagement, it has been a year of growth, innovation, and resilience. All of this was documented by our newsroom staff in more than 200 articles.

Here’s a look back at the stories that shaped 2024. 

UC Merced will celebrate hundreds of graduates alongside their friends and families in the Art Kamangar Center at the Merced Theatre this weekend. There are 402 Bobcats set to participate in the fall commencement ceremonies in downtown Merced.

The festivities begin at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20, with the Graduate Division commencement ceremony.

Innovate to Grow, or I2G as it’s known on campus, is a twice-a-year showcase for UC Merced engineering and computer science students demonstrating projects they have been developing.

Students compete on teams that are judged by experts from around California. People can see the fall showcase Dec. 19, when teams display the results of their work.

These capstone projects are the culmination of students’ undergraduate careers, but the impacts are far more than academic: Teams work together to tackle real-world problems brought to them by clients.

Medical education at UC Merced is expanding at a rapid pace as part of the campus’ long-term goal to address the shortage of physicians and health care professionals in the Central Valley.

Student employees in UC Merced’s dining centers got an up-close look at the sustainable techniques at a family almond farm and were challenged to create locally sourced dishes as part of a workshop inspired by an internationally famous chef. The workshop was presented by the Alice Waters Institute for Edible Education in collaboration with UC Merced Executive Chefs Anthony Pangelina and Mitchell Vanagten.

UC Merced on Wednesday unveiled a striking monument to a university on the rise.

A crowd of students, faculty and staff gathered in the early evening’s long shadows at University Plaza to get their first look at Big Rufus, a 10-foot-long bronze vision of UC Merced’s bobcat mascot. The sculpture paws its way up three staggered concrete-and-steel pillars, gazing resolutely to the horizon.

The University of California, Merced, climbed once again in US News & World Report’s Best Colleges report, rising to the 26th best public school in the nation. Among all universities, UC Merced came in at No. 58 in the 2024-25 rankings released today – continued improvement over last year’s report when it cracked the Top 60 for the first time.