Scholarships

UC Merced master’s student Selina Brinkmann has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for study at Oxford University — a first for the campus.

During December, the Give to UC Merced 2020 initiative tripled the campus’s goal of raising $50,000. The final tally: $163,000 raised for a variety of campus initiatives and programs.

The fundraising initiative has traditionally been held on a single day, but in 2020 it was expanded to one month with an online focus and social media-driven effort because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

High school and college students’ lives have changed in unpredictable ways this year. They’ve missed out on many of the traditions that mark the beginnings and ends of some of life’s most formative chapters and the social interactions that are crucial to adolescent development. They have also been forced to transition into makeshift online learning environments that, in many ways, collide with their home environments.

The Bobcat culture of giving will be celebrated with cookies and fun on Thursday, as the campus marks UC Merced Philanthropy Day hosted by the Student Alumni Association.

UC Merced students who are active in the community are encouraged to apply for the University Friends Circle Distinguished Volunteer Scholarship for the upcoming 2020-2021 academic year.

Goal achieved! UC Merced supporters turned out in force on Giving Tuesday with a record number of donors contributing to campus scholarships and fellowships.

More than 1,300 individuals donated during the 24-hour Give Tue UC Merced campaign on Dec. 3, surpassing the event’s goal of 1,000 donors.

Jose Nava-Mejia hopes to work in renewable energy after he graduates from UC Merced. That means every moment spent on his environmental energy courses is a moment invested in the planet’s future.

Kelsey Duggin hopes to use her microbiology and immunology studies to become a virologist and work with stem cells. Vania Huaranga plans to become a neuropsychologist.

The three are among the scores of UC Merced undergraduates whose studies are backed by the Build the Future Scholarship Fund, which is supported by donations collected during Give Tue UC Merced.

Akhila Yechuri is taking what she learned as an undergrad at UC Merced to Hyderabad, India, researching health disparities as the campus’s first undergrad to earn a Fulbright scholarship.

“I'm so overwhelmed and excited,” she said. “This is really thrilling.”

Success under the most intense pressure has always come naturally for Margaret “Margie” Dingeldein.

A water polo standout at Merced High School, Dingeldein helped the U.S. win a bronze medal at the Summer Olympics in Athens in 2004. Thriving in a high-stress environment didn’t end when she left the pool — she is now an anesthesiologist at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View.

Dingeldein is the keynote speaker for the ninth annual Building Future Champions Dinner and Auction and 22^nd annual Ma Kelley Memorial Golf Tournament on April 25 and 26.

A generous gift from the grandmother of a UC Merced alumna and current staff member is benefitting two undergraduate students who put the UC Merced Library to good use.

Melissa Becerra, a third-year psychology student, and Nathan Parmeter, who graduates this week, are the first recipients of the Carter Joseph Abrescy and Larry Kranich Library Award for Student Research Excellence.