Dear Trustees,
We have appreciated the opportunities to connect with so many of you through virtual platforms over the past several months, and especially enjoy seeing UC Merced represented in your virtual backgrounds! If you haven't already, feel free to check out our many Zoom backgrounds, including new options celebrating our recent rise to the Top 100 Best Colleges by the US News & World Report.
We are looking forward to convening with the full board later this month on Wednesday, October 28. We also hope that you will be able to tune in for the virtual Chancellor's Annual Address today at 3:00 PM. The video of Chancellor Muñoz's speech and his Q&A session with Chair Denise Watkins will be available on the website (chancellor.ucmerced.edu/annual-address) during and anytime after the scheduled event.
The pilot round of the Conversations with Campus Leaders series is soon coming to a close with only two sessions remaining. As we consider scheduling sessions in the future, please feel free to share your thoughts on format, frequency, timing, and topics that may interest you. If you would like to view recordings of past sessions, the video archive can be accessed here (giving.ucmerced.edu/ccl-archive).
As shared in the last briefing, it is not too late to sign up as a special guest for the Student Dens program. The Dens were designed to provide students with virtual spaces to interact with their peers and get connected to resources and services that can support their success. If you are interested in engaging with students through this program, please complete this interest form and we will follow up soon with more information.
We will see you soon - please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or comments to share in the meantime. Please stay safe and be well.
Best,
E. Edward Klotzbier, JD
Vice Chancellor
President, UC Merced Foundation
Lisa Pollard Carlson
Associate Vice Chancellor
Vice President, UC Merced Foundation
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CHANCELLOR'S ANNUAL ADDRESS
Today at 3:00 PM
The video will be available on this website:
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2020 Trustees' Impact Fund |
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We are grateful for the board's support of the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve project through contributions to the Trustees' Impact Fund. We are also excited to share that we recently learned that we only need to raise 25% of the funds to release the full match funding from Proposition 68. Through the generous support received by trustees in the past two years - from the 2019 Trustees' Impact Fund plus what we have received thus far for the 2020 Trustees' Impact Fund - we have already surpassed the 25% benchmark and the full amount of just under $1M will be allocated to the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve project.
With the full match funding unlocked, we are just $40,000 away from reaching the full amount needed to support Phase I of the MVPGR project. We are currently at 60% trustee participation and any and all contributions will help in achieving our board goal of 100% participation.
If you haven't made your 2020 gift, you can give online by clicking the button below, or by completing and sending this remit card. Should you have any questions, please contact Lisa Pollard Carlson at lpollard@ucmerced.edu or (209) 291-8169.
Thank you for your ongoing support, which truly makes a tremendous impact on our programs, research, and students.
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Work Group Meetings
Friday, October 16, 2:00 - 3:00 PM - Executive Committee
Full Board Meetings
Wednesday, October 28, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM | RSVP Here
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
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Conversations with Campus Leaders |
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Mark Matsumoto, Dean of the School of Engineering
Wednesday, October 14, 10:00 AM
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Thelma Hurd, Director of Medical Education
Wednesday, October 21, 10:00 AM
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Blackstone Launchpad Entrepreneurship Speaker Series |
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Upcoming Speakers
Channelle Charest | Executive Director of Growth, Bitwise Industries
Tuesday, October 13, 5:00 PM
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You may remember Channelle Charest from Bitwise's presentation to BOT in February. As executive director of growth for Bitwise Industries, Channelle ensures creative and cohesive communities in each expansion city, and serves as a matchmaker between America’s underdog cities and Bitwise. She works closely with the VP for each Bitwise campus to determine the most impactful ways the Bitwise ecosystem can help solve challenges in each location. Strengthening overlooked urban cores has been a long-time focus for Channelle, who’s worked in downtown Fresno for more than a decade doing everything from serving beers at the neighborhood pub to directing projects for a creative design firm. |
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Tuesday, November 10, 5:00 PM
Richard K. Lyons
Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer, UC Berkeley | Professor & Former Dean
Monday, December 7, 5:00 PM
José M. Hernández
Former NASA Astronaut | President and CEO Tierra Luna Engineering
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Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion |
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Our most recent Conversations with Campus Leaders session featured Dania Matos, Associate Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer. If you missed it and/or would like the opportunity to learn more about the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, check out the upcoming virtual Open House, register for Virtual Dialogue Series sessions and view past recordings, and sign up for the EDI newsletter.
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UC Merced Foundation Trustee, Dr. Vikram Lakireddy, and UC Merced staff member, Priya Lakireddy, have made the first significant gift in support of UC Merced’s landmark Merced 2020 Project. The generous donation from the Lakireddys will name the state-of-the-art central hub of the new UC Merced Conference Center. The Dr. Vikram and Priya Lakireddy Grand Ballroom will host scholarly conferences and seminars, student-focused events and will be a flagship location for high-level events and speakers.
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"The continued growth of our student population — especially in light of the pandemic we’re all facing — is truly remarkable and should make everyone associated with the university proud to be a Bobcat,” Chancellor Juan Sánchez-Muñoz said.
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UC Merced’s national reputation for sustainability continues to grow, with the Sierra Club naming the university No. 5 on its 2020 “Cool Schools” list and The Princeton Review placing it on its Green College Honor Roll.
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“If we don’t consider how everything connects from a systems perspective, we’re not going to solve grand challenges such as climate change,” Professor Tracey Osborne said. “Not even close.”
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Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz has been named the recipient of the 2020 Cesar Estrada Chavez Award from the American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity.
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Researchers at the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute at the University of California have launched a new public-private pilot initiative to bring telehealth services to underserved rural residents in Merced County.
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Quantifying the water-related benefits can be critical in showing the true value and cost-benefit of forest management. New research from UC Merced’s Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI) fills this data gap and provides a method to monetize the water-related benefits of forest thinning.
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UC Merced undergraduate students and faculty partner with Merced Shakespearefest to produce the bilingual, English-Spanish Shakespearean web series Ricardo El Segundo (Richard II). The production’s origin lies within Ph.D. candidate William Wolfgang’s idea to bring a bilingual Shakespearean show to the Central Valley, in an effort to bridge cultures together through the iconic playwright’s social justice activism.
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Wednesday, December 2; 11:30 a.m.
In her new show, born from the COVID-19 pandemic, Kristina Wong details how she went from out-of-work performance artist to overlord of a homemade face mask empire in just 10 days. With her trademark wit, she explores how she was able to build the Auntie Sewing Squad, a sweatshop of hundreds of volunteer “Aunties” to fix the Public Health care system while in quarantine.
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Biology graduate students are producing educational podcasts and artwork to communicate research happening at UC Merced and beyond. RadioBio seeks to increase scientific literacy in the Central Valley, and engage UC Merced undergraduates in biology and cutting-edge research.
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