Dear Trustees,
As we approach the end of 2020, we'd like to take a moment to express our immense gratitude for your ongoing commitment and service to UC Merced. We could not have weathered the challenges this year brought and sustained the advancement of our university's mission without the strength and resilience of this board and our entire community. We thank each of you for the many ways that you support and amplify our impact.
The Give To UC Merced fundraising initiative is underway and will run through December 31, and we have already acquired over 350 donors and raised more than $90K to support various areas. Thank you to the many trustees that have contributed and served as advocates by spreading the word on social media! For information about how to participate, please refer to the Giving toolkit here, and reach out to Stephanie Sia at (209) 382-4142 or ucmfoundation@ucmerced.edu if you need assistance.
If you haven't already, you should be hearing from UC Merced staff to schedule check in meetings to review the Trustee Engagement Form and complete other administrative items. Should you have any questions in the meantime, please don't hesitate to reach out to ucmfoundation@ucmerced.edu.
We thank you again for all that you do to support UC Merced and we are wishing you well this holiday season.
Warmest regards,
Ed and Lisa
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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UC Merced Foundation Intern: Introducing Keanu Velasquez! |
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Thanks to the generosity of Advocacy & Awareness Co-Chair Jack Oswald, we are excited to welcome student intern, Keanu Velasquez, to our team to support the work of the board.
Hello! My name is Keanu Velasquez (he/him/his) and I am a fourth-year student majoring in sociology and minoring in psychology. I was born and raised in San Francisco and am based in the city for the remainder of the school year. Throughout my time at UC Merced, I have been involved in various organizations, including the Pilipino-American Alliance, Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity, and the INTRO, PHD, and Homebound dance teams. I have also worked as a tour guide for Admissions, mentor at the Bright Success Center, intern for the Chancellor's Office, and as a Golden Lynx ambassador.
All of these involvements have validated my decision to attend UC Merced. I believe UC Merced provides opportunities for students to explore and gives a space where students can feel empowered to story-tell. UC Merced encompasses diverse stories that I have been lucky to hear from my fellow peers. These stories are what make me feel proud to be a bobcat and form a closer bond with the university community. In my final year here, I have picked up photography. I believe photography is another form of story-telling that can bridge people's experiences regardless of where we physically are. After undergrad, I hope to continue to explore the world and go into a career that entails project management and mentoring.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with you all and am excited to learn and grow through this experience!
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Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Jessica Trounstine |
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Under the leadership of then-Chair Lee Kolligian, and with a significant lead gift made by executive board member and diplomat Fred and Mitzie Ruiz, the board utilized the UCOP Presidential Match for Endowed Chairs program to establish the UC Merced Foundation Board of Trustees Presidential Chair. Dr. Jessica Trounstine, Political Science Professor and Department Chair, was appointed as our first chairholder in July 2019. Professor Trounstine shares an update below on how the endowed chair appointment has supported her work and enhanced her research.
I am deeply appreciative of the support of the UC Merced Foundation Board of Trustees for my research, teaching, and service. Being appointed to this prestigious chair allowed me the opportunity to decline a well-resourced offer at Cornell University in favor of continuing to build the UC Merced community and political science department. It also afforded me the time to contribute to the campus and larger community. For instance, I was able to launch UC Merced’s inaugural chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha (the political science honor society) and serve as an expert witness for Central California Legal Services and the Public Interest Law Project.
The endowed chair appointment has been integral to advancing my research and visibility in my field. I drew on the generous research funds associated with the chair for several exciting projects. In one project, I am working to analyze the promise and pitfalls of a new type of electoral system called ranked choice voting. In another, I have hired two research assistants to learn how to increase voter turnout among hard-to-reach populations in California. In a third project exploring the development of public sector unions, I used chair funds to digitize thousands of historical records. The funds also allowed me to provide support to my graduate student who is investigating inequality in government benefits in Nigeria.
The endowed chair appointment has also increased my profile in academia. I was invited to participate in an ongoing project with the Urban Institute to help cities throughout the United States develop metrics of mobility from poverty for their communities. I was also invited to contribute to a program funded by the Hewlett Foundation that seeks to build a new intellectual community around research on American Political Economy.
I want to truly thank the board for their support of my research team's work, and I look forward to providing further updates in the future.
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2020 Accolades and Publications
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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. Help us reach the finish line and achieve the board's goal of 100% participation by December 31, 2020.
Thank you for your support, which truly makes a tremendous impact on our programs, research, and students.
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Full Board Meetings
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
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Friday, December 18, 2020
11:30 AM - 2:30 PM
You are cordially invited to the bi-annual showcase of student ingenuity from The School of Engineering's signature programs: Engineering Capstone, Engineering Service Learning, and Software Capstone.
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Fall Virtual Commencement |
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Saturday, December 19, 2020
10:00 AM
We hope you will join us to cheer on our graduates as they cross the virtual stage into a new, exciting chapter of life!
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Conversations with Campus Leaders |
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Information about future sessions will follow soon.
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This season of giving serves as a reminder that a little help goes a long way. Often, the financial support from a scholarship or fellowship makes all the difference for a student pursuing their dreams of changing the world — dreams that have never been more important than they are today.
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UC Merced and Merced College are teaming up to make it easier than ever for local students to matriculate through community college and earn bachelor’s degrees from the most respected public university system in the world, all without ever having to leave their hometown.
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After a lengthy and rigorous review by independent auditors, UC Merced can proudly announce it is the first public research university in the country to achieve carbon neutrality, two years ahead of its goal.
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Being a university student is stressful on its own. Students who have an uncertain immigration status have an additional layer of worry. The nearly 600 UC Merced students with undocumented status are finding support not only from the university, but from one another.
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About 70 percent of people with COVID-19 suddenly lose their sense of smell, although fewer of them seem to realize it, according to a new “living analysis” by a research team that includes a UC Merced graduate student, Vicente Ramirez.
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