Gifts

Shy in high school, Rachel Fang didn’t want to follow the same pattern as a UC Merced student.

“I decided that I was going to change,” Fang said. “I wanted to be more outspoken.”

Throughout his 51-year teaching career, John Elia made a profound impact on the lives of more than 10,000 students. Now, his legacy will continue through an endowment created by his family.

A generous gift from the John Elia Education Endowment Trust will fund scholarships, fellowships and programs at the University of California, Merced.

Southern California Edison has been selected as this year’s recipient of the UC Merced School of Engineering Vanguard Margin of Excellence Award.

“Southern California Energy’s partnership with UC Merced has created countless opportunities for engineering students to positively impact their communities,” School of Engineering Dean Dan Hirleman wrote to the company, calling it a model partner for the university.

The Vanguard Award was created to honor corporate partners that have had a transformational effect on the educational experience of School of Engineering students.

Five words from one of American history’s most famous speeches inspired Dalton Rogers to contribute to society.

He was called to public service in high school when he read President John F. Kennedy’s call to action — "ask what you can do.”

University life can be hard, and for transfer students, it often proves even more daunting.

Studies have shown they typically have low rates of campus engagement and retention, and take longer to earn their degree. But thanks to a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, that should change at the University of California, Merced.

The University of California, Merced, recorded $5.04 million in private gift and grant support from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013 — an increase of 26 percent over the last fiscal year’s total of $3.98 million.

The percentage increase in private funding was far higher than the national average and exceeded the division's goal of $5 million.

The University of California today (Sept. 18) began Promise for Education, a six-week crowd-funding campaign to engage students, faculty, alumni, celebrities, businesses, politicians and supporters in a novel drive to raise money for UC student scholarships.

Jonathan D. Jansen, vice chancellor and rector of the University of the Free State and South Africa's first black dean, has been named the 2013 recipient of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance.

The University of California, Merced, will award the prize to Jansen during an evening ceremony Oct. 28 on campus. 

The ties between the community and the University of California, Merced, will grow stronger thanks to a gift from longtime campus supporters Joel and Elizabeth Wallace.

The Wallaces have given UC Merced $575,000 to establish the Wallace-Dutra Amphitheater and the Yablokoff-Wallace Health Science Research Endowment, which will support the campus’s Community Research, Innovations and Solutions for the Health of the San Joaquin Valley Network (CRIS).

Longtime UC Merced supporters Frederick R. and Mitzie Ruiz have made a generous gift to help generations of students through an endowed scholarship, named in honor of the woman who had a major impact on their lives.

The Rose R. Ruiz Endowed Scholarship and Fellowship Fund will support highly motivated undergraduate and graduate students who face obstacles such as financial difficulties, being first-generation college students and meeting California Dream Act standards.