Since his undergraduate days in Environmental Studies at Humboldt State University, Ivan Soto has aspired to produce research with a positive impact on the public — not just to benefit the academic community.

One of the pillars of UC Merced is service and giving back to the community.

Now the university, Yosemite National Park and partners in the region are offering a new program to help a group of people who gave back in advance — those who served in the military and now qualify for GI Bill benefits.

UC Merced students come from all over the state, some from very long distances. But for dozens of students just five miles away from campus, getting here took its own kind of journey.

Becoming Gateway Scholars allowed 67 Merced High School students to reach a destination they thought was closed to them, and because of it, a path to higher education has opened to them.

Dr. Art Kamangar and Calvin E. Bright have been invaluable in the development of UC Merced since before the campus opened its doors. To commemorate their philanthropy and outstanding service, this week they were awarded the prestigious Chancellor’s Medal, the highest honor for extraordinary accomplishment bestowed upon an individual by the university.

UC Merced continues to build on its reputation as a world-class research university, debuting at No. 4 among U.S. universities in the 2019 Times Higher Education Young University Rankings released today.

The list ranks the best 351 universities in the world that are 50 years old and younger. UC Merced ranked No. 60 among all universities that qualified for the list.

This is UC Merced’s first year of eligibility for the ranking, which weighs teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income of qualifying universities.

It started with a simple off-hand comment, one that would likely be met with a chuckle at any other institution. At UC Merced, it became a ripple that has changed the academic and social strata of an entire school.

The opportunity to participate in cutting-edge scientific research as an undergraduate is one of the most exciting aspects of a UC Merced education.

One of the best preparation opportunities for graduate school is to engage in research as an undergraduate, but at many universities, it’s not until you’re in graduate school that you conduct research. 

At the northern tip of the UC Merced campus, an unremarkable aluminum gate leads into a field that extends, seemingly, into infinity. Perpendicular to the gate, the LeGrand Canal, drawn from Lake Yosemite, snakes around campus into the emerald pastures, through farm rows and almond orchards across the highway. It’s the rainy season and bulbous cumuli foreground the rippled line of the Sierra Nevada that slices across the open sky.

The county fair offers food and fun, and thanks to UC Merced, this year’s Merced County Fair will also feature an interactive space for kids to learn.

UC Merced’s Mobile Maker Space is an innovative mobile science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) hub with hands-on activities and workshops geared toward students in kindergarten through high school. Attendees have an opportunity to experience the Mobile Maker Space at the fair’s Discovering Science exhibit before it launches to the public early next year.

Hundreds of students join the UC Merced campus each year intent on health-related careers.

What they might not know, though, is that there are resources on campus that can be critical in helping them achieve their goals.

“If it weren’t for the Pre-Health Advising program, I might not be where I am,” said Dr. Randell Rueda, a 2011 graduate of UC Merced who is in his residency as a family doctor in his hometown of Fresno. “I would have struggled in school and with myself.”