UC Merced Magazine | Volume XVI, Issue I

UC MERCED MAGAZINE // Volume XVI , I ssue I

Governor supports UC Merced medical education building.

While we have all faced the challenges of the pandemic, UC Merced returned this fall to in-person teaching, learning and research and a stunning record of success. From our record pool of undergraduate applicants in the spring to our largest-ever first-year class and a total enrollment of nearly 9,100 students, we are growing to meet our goal of 15,000 students by 2030. :H UHPDLQ D WRS XQLYHUVLW\ ZLWK 86 1HZV UDWLQJ XV DV QR LQ WKH QDWLRQ Ǻb QR DPRQJ DOO SXEOLF LQVWLWXWLRQVbǺ RQ WRS RI VLPLODU SUDLVH IURP )RUEHV 6LHUUD 0DJD]LQH :DVKLQJWRQ 0RQWKO\ DQG WKH 3ULQFHWRQ Review. Our faculty have received millions of dollars in research grants to push the boundaries of science, humanities, and the arts at UC Merced and beyond. ,Q WKH ODVW \HDU ZH KDYH H[FHHGHG DOO UHFRUGV IRU XQLYHUVLW\ IXQGUDLVLQJ ǺbVXSSRUWHG E\ D PLOOLRQ GRQDWLRQ WKH ODUJHVW VLQJOH JLIW LQ 8& 0HUFHG KLVWRU\ $QG ZH KDYH UHOHDVHG WKH XQLYHUVLW\ǽV ILUVW HYHU 6WUDWHJLF 3ODQ VHWWLQJ the course for our continued growth and success over the coming decade.

BUILDING HEALTH CARE Capacity in the Valley

State to back Health, Behaviorial Sciences and Medical Education facility at UC Merced Medical education is a point of pride for the University of California. The system boasts six highly ranked medical schools with more than 3,500 total students — in Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and San Francisco, the latter of which also has a branch campus in Fresno. The UC’s youngest campus, in Merced, opened to undergraduates in 2005 and by fall 2006 had hired a FRQVXOWDQW WR SODQ IRU LWV IXWXUH PHGLFDO VFKRRO Ǻb D concept that was embedded in UC Merced’s 2009 Long Range Development Plan. Preparation for a medical education program sat on the back burner, though, as the Merced campus focused on building out the Merced 2020 Project to prepare for growing its student population. UC Merced continued to

build out expertise in field such as public health, particularly rural public health, and psychology, and the university’s thoroughgoing focus on sustainability is of course, at its base, about the health and future of humanity. More than a quarter of the university’s faculty are affiliated with the Health Sciences Research Institute, including its subsidiary Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center and California Valley Fever Network Focusedmedical education planning kicked into higher gear in August 2020, with initial discussions with UCSF-Fresno and its mother campus yielding a firm plan that now foresees future doctors spending eight years learning in the Valley, progressing from a bachelor of science in Merced to a USCF doctorate in medicine; the BS-to-MD program will enroll its first undergraduates in fall 2023, with a focus on recruiting students from the Central Valley. “We know from the research literature that medical professionals are more likely to establish practices in the place they were educated and underwent their residency,” noted Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz.

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“It’s about investing in our community.”

What remained was a facility in Merced to teach the Valley’s future health care providers. And then Gov. Gavin Newsom stepped up. On Oct. 25, 2021, acknowledging the dearth of primary care physicians in the Valley — “zip codes shouldn’t be a SUH H[LVWLQJ FRQGLWLRQȀ Ǻb1HZVRP DUULYHG RQ FDPSXV WR announce that the state’s general fund would cover borrowing costs for the University of California to build a Health, Behavioral Sciences and Medical Education Building at UC Merced. Muñoz praised the governor for his “historic commitment.” Pre-med students AdamGallardo and Evelyn Alfaro spoke at the governor’s announcement, Gallardo noting that he is from Merced and, after medical school, wants to practice in the Central Valley. “I want to help people heal, overcome and prosper,” he said. Added Alfaro, a Bay Area native: “I want to come back to the Central Valley and contribute to lowering health disparities here.” “The medical education building is a major investment by the state and UC Merced in the health and well-being of Central Valley communities,” said Dr. Thelma Hurd, the oncology surgeon named UC Merced’s director of medical education in 2019. “It is evidence of the commitment UC Merced and the state of California havemade to this region, and the confidence in their students and researchers who will improve health outcomes in the Valley.” Historically, borrowing for University of California buildings has been included in a bonding cap set by the legislature for the UC. Two years ago, Assembly Member

Adam Gray, D-Merced, passed budget language that moved $200 million for the building out from under that cap and into the state’s general bonding capacity. Taking the lead with the Newsom administration, Gray and others earlier this year secured the agreement for the state to cover $210.4 million for the UC Merced building. It is now being designed by the architecture firm ZGF, with a goal of opening in the 2024-2025 academic year. “It is not only about investing in the building,” said the assembly member, standing between the governor and chancellor. “It’s about investing in our community.” Noting the presence and long-term support of U.S. Rep. Jim. Costa, D-Fresno, and state Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, Gray said, “All of us working together made this happen.” The four-story building will house more than the medical education program; it will address growing needs for space for psychology and public health programs (psychology majors are expected to rise 38% by 2030, and public health majors by 33%) and serve approximately 2,200 students when it opens. “The co-location of public health, psychology, the Health Science Research Institute and medical education will create a transdisciplinary environment and academic culture in which students, faculty and community can address the region’s health challenges in sustainable and innovative ways,” said Hurd. “The original plan for this university included a medical school,” said Muñoz. “It has taken time — but the story of UC Merced is one of relentless perseverance.” The state’s financial commitment, he said, “makes clear that our legacy of hard work has been acknowledged … and that our best days are still ahead.”

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Dr. Thelma Hurd, UC Merced's first director of medical education and the Thondapu Family Chair in Medical Education.

Thondapu Gift Supports Medical Education Director

Distinguished UC Merced Director of Medical (GXFDWLRQ DQG SXEOLF KHDOWK 3URIHVVRUb 'U 7KHOPD +XUGb KDV EHHQ DSSRLQWHG WKH LQDXJXUDO 7KRQGDSX )DPLO\ (QGRZHG &KDLU LQ 0HGLFDO (GXFDWLRQ “I am both gratified and honored,” said Hurd. “It is truly an important step in establishing a long-term medical education program on the campus and for the community.” Hurd, whose leadership in public health has advanced the university’s community outreach and expanded medical and health-science education and training on campus, is the first UC Merced faculty member to be granted the five-year appointment. “The generous gift of the Thondapu Endowed Chair in Medical Education advances our campus mission to improve the health of our community through education,” said Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz. “Dr. Hurd’s lifelong commitment to public health makes her the ideal person to be appointed to this chair and to lead UC Merced’s efforts.” The endowed chair was established by the Thondapu family of Merced to expand local medical education for the university and the broader Central Valley community by building a cross-disciplinary program in medical education among all campuses within the UC system.

“Our family’s hope in creating the endowment was to ensure UC Merced has resources to develop a medical education program focused on addressing health inequities in our region,” said Dr. Ramakrishna Thondapu. “Dr. Hurd’s leadership and record of accomplishments embody these goals, and we are delighted that she will be appointed as the first Thondapu Family Chair.” Hurd joined UC Merced in 2019 as the director of UC Merced’s Medical Education program after serving as a clinician, public health researcher and translational scientist. Hurd serves on the Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District’s Health Science Academy Executive Board, where she works with educators to tailor curricula to best serve students’ science education needs. Hurd, a recipient of the BestDoctors inAmerica designation since 2008, is amember of multiple oncology and surgical societies, and has served on national cooperative groups and journal editorial boards.

Hurd’s research interests include health disparities, clinical oncology and medical education.

Hurd has been recognized with numerous honors, including a New York State Congressional Citation for excellence in FRPPXQLW\ ZRUN DQG KHDOWK FDUH DQG WKH SUHVWLJLRXVb 3UHVLGHQWǽV 9ROXQWHHU 6HUYLFH $ZDUGb E\ IRUPHU 3UHVLGHQW George W. Bush in 2008 for her impactful community work in the United States and Africa.

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(continued from page 5)

“There are a lot of challenges in balancing the needs of agriculture and ecosystems, and climate change and drought are only exacerbating difficult decisions about how to sustain water resources,” said Viers, the lead project director and the director of the campus’s branch of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute. “But our team of advisors, educators and scientists are eager to enable data-driven decision-making for securing a climate resilient future for our water-stressed regions.” The collaboration — Securing a Climate Resilient Water Future for Agriculture and Ecosystems through Innovations inMeasurement, Management andMarkets or SWIM— will work across disciplines in three testbeds with unique water policies and systems: Cache Valley, Utah; Mesilla Valley, NewMexico; and the San Joaquin Valley. All of them grow orchard crops and alfalfa, and all are in drought conditions. A Just Transition to SustainableAgriculture Civil & Environmental Engineering Professor Tom Harmon, director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute, is also leading the Labor and Automation in California Agriculture (LACA) team, an interdisciplinary group comprising UCs Merced, Berkeley, Davis and Riverside, as well as UC ANR. LACA is supported by $3.1 million given through the prestigious MRPI program from the University of California Office of the President. “California is an agriculturally diverse and productive state, and yet its food system is vulnerable to climate change, regulatory change, water availability and unexpected disturbances. Agricultural workforce shortages are also negatively affecting our food system,” Harmon said. By partnering with farmers, workers, environmentalists and agriculturalists, LACA aims to create a new model for agricultural technology that is farmer- and worker-friendly while enhancingproductivity andenvironmental sustainability. PrecisionAgriculture and the Internet of Things UC Merced is also one of four campuses across the country uniting to meet the challenge of feeding a growing world population by developing precision agriculture for a sustainable future.

Led by the University of Pennsylvania, UC Merced, Purdue University and the University of Florida share in a $26 million, five-year National Science Foundation Engineering Research Centers grant to form the NSF Engineering Research Center for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture (IoT4Ag). The mission of IoT4Ag is to ensure food, energy and water security by developing technology to increase crop production while minimizing the use of energy and water resources and lessening the impact of agricultural practices on the environment. Collectively, the IoT4Ag Center will also create a diverse talent pipeline of K–12 and university students, engineers, agriculture professionals and other members of farming communities through audience-specific lessons and hands-on classroom, laboratory and field activities. “We aimto engineer cost-effective systems that farmerswill adopt,” said UC Merced Professor Catherine Keske, the campus lead. “We want to include everyone who has a perspective on engineering ag, from farmers, farm workers and the children of farm workers among our student body to government and industry partners.” Artificial IntelligenceWorking for theValley Sharing in a $20 million grant from the USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture in cooperation with the National Science Foundation, UC Merced is also part of a multi-institutional research collaborative to develop artificial intelligence — or AI — solutions to tackle some of agriculture’s biggest challenges related to water management, climate change and integration of new technology into farming. While traditional AI development involves scientists making tools and delivering them to end-users, the AgAID Institute will involve the people who will use the AI solutions — from farmers and workers to policy makers — in their development. The Institute, led by Washington State University, is working closely with UC Merced on several educational pathways from K-12 through higher education and worker training. The goal is to raise AgSTEM skill levels and open new career paths in AI and digital agriculture, which can improve pay and quality of life for agricultural workers.

We want to include everyone who has a perspective on engineering ag, from farmers, farm workers and the children of farm workers among our student body to government and industry partners.

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Agreements Create Merced Educational Pipeline

Highlights of the Merced Promise, as outlined in the MOU, include: Facilitating faculty discussions to ensure transfer pathways are streamlined and comprehensible; Developing an online “ProgramMapper,” a simple tool to help students map their own pathways and accelerate progress toward their degrees; ProvidingMerced College students with opportunities to participate in undergraduate research and attend courses at UCMerced; Developing summer undergraduate research programs at UCMerced forMerced College students on track to transfer; Allowing undergraduate students fromeither institution to cross-enroll in one course per semester at the other; Providing a joint presence at Merced College and at local high schools to promote the program; Collaboratingwith the Center for Educational Partnerships to communicate directlywithmiddle and high-school students; and Raising funds to provideMerced Promise Scholarships, with guaranteed admission to UCMerced for students who complete all requirements, and to invest in the staffing, resources and oversight needed to ensure students are successful.

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In March, Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz and Merced Union High School District Superintendent Alan Peterson formally signed the first Merced Automatic Admission Program (MAAP) for students at MUHSD who complete specific requirements at the time of graduation. ǿ:H ZHUH HVWDEOLVKHG QRW MXVW LQ WKH 9DOOH\ EXWbIRUbWKH 9DOOH\ DQG we will hold true to that promise,” Muñoz said during the signing ceremony at El Capitan High School. “We want every family in Merced County to know that a University of California education is right here close to home, and that you have the possibility to go from kindergarten through Ph.D. within minutes of your home, if you put in the work.” The Merced Union High School District includes Atwater, Buhach Colony, El Capitan, Golden Valley, Livingston and Merced high schools, and four alternative education schools: Yosemite, Independence, Sequoia and Merced Adult. “This will give our students a competitive advantage like never before and also enable us to keep more of our university-bound students close to home,” Peterson said. “In turn, our hope is that many of our best and brightest will choose to serve our local communities as they begin their careers.” MAAP will allow students with a weighted GPA of 3.5 with no grade lower than a “C” to be automatically admitted to UC Merced through a streamlined admissions process. ,Q 1RYHPEHU 8& 0HUFHG VLJQHG WKHb 0HUFHG 3URPLVHb agreement to ease transfers from Merced College to the university. Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz and Merced College President Chris Vitelli announced the memorandum of understanding outlining the robust new program. “Improving educational outcomes in the Merced area is not the job of a single institution — it requires a collaborative effort across all levels of education,” Muñoz said. “The Merced Promise is our promise to the Merced community that if a student is qualified and committed to their education, we will work together to ensure they achieve their goals.”

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“It is impossible to overstate the significance of this partnership and the impact it will have on Merced and residents of this community,” Vitelli said. “We are making significant progress toward a future in which Merced grows its own talent, invests in local families, and molds its students into a generation of citizens who will ensure that Merced remains a city on the rise.”

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Scott/Jewett Gift Will be Transformative

Chancellor Muñoz speaks to the foundation board and supporters at the State of the University address.

Philanthropist and authorMacKenzie Scott and her husband, Dan Jewett, made the most significant gift to the University of California, Merced, in the university’s 16-year history.

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Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

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Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz, at right, gives a tour of UCMerced to, from left, US Rep. JimCosta, US Sen. Alex Padilla, and Assembly Member AdamGray.

Listening to Valley Voices State and federal officials have arrived over recent months at UC Merced to discuss important Central Valley issues with campus leaders and community members. They include US Sen. Alex Padilla, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, and Lourdes Castro Ramírez, California secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, along with longtime UC Merced supporters US Rep. Jim Costa and Assembly Member Adam Gray.

Top, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis joins forum on water and agriculture issues at UC Merced; bottom, Secretary Ramírez met with campus and local officials, including Merced Mayor Matt Serratto, to talk about the urgent housing needs of Merced County and California.

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The plan culminates a year of thoughtful engagement and refinement by faculty, staff, students and external partners while preserving many of the insights and contributions of past planning efforts by colleagues. The Strategic Plan USMerced is thrilled to share its inaugural long-range comprehensive strategic plan.

GOAL 2

Develop Future Scholars and Leaders As our campus continues to grow, we will provide our students with the personal and academic support to succeed through world-class educational experiences delivered by outstanding educators and researchers. Honoring our students’ experiences as strengths upon which to build, our offerings will develop lifelong learners empowered by the habits of mind and tools of a researcher and address whole-student development, lead to career readiness and encourage and enable civic engagement. Through a supportive community and educational experiences that are inclusive, high-impact, experiential and research-based, we will foster the intellectual and personal development of diverse scholars and leaders. Our students will leave our campus recognizing the importance of global and local community and having contributed to the San Joaquin Valley. They will be prepared to be the next generation of diverse scholars, leaders and agents of change. Cultivate a Culture of Dignity and Respect for All Bold scholarship requires us to dismantle long-standing exclusionary practices in higher education. We aim to adopt research-grounded practices that drive our campus toward inclusive excellence. To do so, we will invest in the resources and cultivate the skills, knowledge and comprehensively inclusive and anti-racist attitudes necessary to ensure that each unit, department, division and stakeholder clearly demonstrates their contribution to our Principles of Community. GOAL 3

This is a plan of immense ambition: a blueprint that will drive the university’s success and momentum into the future as it builds on the first 15-plus years of achievement.

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GOAL 1

EngageOurWorld and Region ThroughDiscovery and the Advancement of Knowledge

We are a young campus already recognized for the unparalleled trajectory and quality of our research. As we move toward joining the select number of campuses at the very high research classification (R1), we will continue to establish ourselves as a national hub for interdisciplinary and transformational research that supports equity and prosperity globally and locally, with particular sensitivity for the San Joaquin Valley. Research experiences, a hallmark of our educational programs, will provide fertile ground for our undergraduate and graduate students to develop the 21st century skills and knowledge essential to creating and leading positive change at global, national and local levels.

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Recent Research Highlights

STEM Research Renewal: The Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Medicine (CCBM) has been awarded another $5 million from the National Science Foundation to continue its work, on top of an earlier $10 million NSF invested in the center. CCBM includes faculty from bioengineering, physics, chemistry, materials science, molecular cell biology and applied math to design and develop biological materials and devices. The new funding will support foci on protein metamorphosis and responsive nanodevices; adaptive and responsive nanoscale assemblies; and adaptive cellular communication.

Creating Lizard Lair: Professor Danielle Edwards, who studies evolutionary biology, has created a living laboratory of side-blotched lizards in the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve. Edwards and a team of graduate and undergraduate students will study the lizards’ behavior and mating in the 1.2-acre enclosure with 12 individual

enclosures simulating different environmental conditions.

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Test Tube Clocks: How do biological clocks tick?

Proteins Battle Dehydration: Professor Shahar Sukenik of the Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Machines is studying how intrinsically disordered proteins, which perform essential functions in all living cells, provide protection from dehydration. “The proteins seem to turn the cell’s environment into a self-protective one,” Sukenik said. A $2.8 million National Science Foundation grant is allowing Sukenik’s lab to collaborate in an NSF initiative called integrative biology. Voices of Voiceless: The Human Computer Interaction Group is working on a deep neural net framework that translates real-time MRIs of vocal tract shaping to text. Professor Ahmed Sabbir Arif says this could lead to a new form of communication for stroke patients or mute individuals. Researchers in labs at UCMerced, UC Santa Cruz and UC San Diego have reconstituted the circadian clock of cyanobacteria in a test tube, enabling them to study rhythmic interactions of clock proteins in real time. The test tube (in vitro) provides a powerful platform for exploring the clock’s mechanisms and how it responds to changes. UCMerced Professor Andy LiWang’s lab was part of the study, which was published in the journal Science.

Health of Latina Teen Mothers: Researchers fromUCMerced’s Department of Psychological Sciences and Health Sciences Research Institute studied the link between a good night’s sleep and mental health among teen Latina mothers in the San Joaquin Valley. The results, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, reflects some of the Valley population’s unique aspects, such as its rural populations and high number of migrant farmworkers, said Professor Alexandra Main.

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Demystifying Calculus: For many students, calculus is a bridge too far – and too abstract – to understand. That is a barrier to STEM careers, and a particularly high one for students of underrepresented communities. A collaboration of UC Merced and CSU-Fresno educators is working to emphasize the “why, what and how” of calculus. Professor Mayya Tokman and her co-researchers are using a state grant to reach more than 11,000 students and engage more than 50 faculty members in taking a more interactive and inclusive approach.

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Internship Paired Equity With Environmental Policy 8& 0HUFHGǽV 2IILFH RI 6XVWDLQDELOLW\ DQG 2IILFH RI (TXLW\ 'LYHUVLW\ DQG ,QFOXVLRQ DUH ZRUNLQJ WR FUHDWH D PRUH LQFOXVLYH ZRUNIRUFH ,Q VXPPHU WKH RIILFHV WHDPHG XS ZLWK WKH 1DWXUDO 5HVRXUFHV 'HIHQVH &RXQFLO 15'& D QRQSURILW LQWHUQDWLRQDO HQYLURQPHQWDO DGYRFDF\ JURXS WR RIIHU DQ XQGHUJUDGXDWH DQ H[FOXVLYH SDLG UHPRWH LQWHUQVKLS WR JDLQ H[SHULHQFH LQ HFRORJLFDO UHVHDUFK DORQJVLGH WKH 15'&ǽV FOHDQ WUDQVSRUWDWLRQ WHDP ǿ, DP H[FLWHG WR RIIHU D XQLTXH SHUVSHFWLYH DQG WKH IDFW WKDW , ZDV FKRVHQ DOVR VKRZFDVHV WKH LQFOXVLYLW\ WKLV LQWHUQVKLS RIIHUV Ȁ *XHUUD VDLG DW WKH RXWVHW ǿ, KRSH WKLV LV WKH EHJLQQLQJ WR FUHDWH D PRUH GLYHUVH HQYLURQPHQWDO ILHOG Ȁ 'XULQJ WKH LQWHUQVKLS *XHUUD H[SORUHG KRZ WR HTXLWDEO\ WUDQVLWLRQ DZD\ IURP WUDGLWLRQDO JDV UXQ YHKLFOHV WR ]HUR HPLVVLRQ YHKLFOHV

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The internship was open to all UC Merced students regardless of race, income or major. $V WKH ILUVW XQLYHUVLW\ WR UHDFK FDUERQ QHXWUDOLW\ 6XVWDLQDELOLW\ DQG 'LYHUVLW\ (GXFDWLRQDO 3URJUDPV 0DQDJHU *XLOOHUPR 2UWL] VDLG LW LV FUXFLDO IRU 8& 0HUFHG VWXGHQWV WR ZRUN ZLWK HQYLURQPHQWDO RUJDQL]DWLRQV VXFK DV 15'& ,W DOVR RIIHUHG *XHUUD WKH FKDQFH WR ǿOHDUQ PRUH DERXW WKH LQWHUVHFWLRQ RI HTXLW\ DQG HQYLURQPHQWDO SROLF\ Ȁ KH VDLG ǿ:HǽUH WKULOOHG DERXW RXU QHZ SDUWQHUVKLS ZLWK 8& 0HUFHG DQG LWV VWXGHQWV Ȁ VDLG 7UR\ 5LGGOH FKLHI GLYHUVLW\ HTXLW\ DQG LQFOXVLRQ RIILFHU DW WKH 15'& ǿ$V D OHDGHU LQ VXVWDLQDELOLW\ DQG FOLPDWH MXVWLFH ZLWK D ULFK GLYHUVH VWXGHQW ERG\ Ǻ QRW WR PHQWLRQ LQ RXU EDFN\DUG Ǻ LW ZDV D QR EUDLQHU IRU 15'& DQG ZH ORRN IRUZDUG WR FRQWLQXLQJ GHHSHQLQJ RXU UHODWLRQVKLS Ȁ

Andrea Guerra

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Shayna Bennett

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Staff Advisor to Regents

Incoming Staff Advisor Priya Lakireddy moved to Merced with her family in

flexibility to balance their work and home lives, when we can, will help us attract new talent and retain top contributors. We know this works.” Mentorship is another one of Lakireddy’s passions. “UC staff members deserve every opportunity to develop and thrive — especially people who haven’t traditionally received those opportunities. I’m excited about continuing UC’s work toward becoming a truly inclusive workplace, where staff members can grow.” President Michael V. Drake, M.D., selected Lakireddy as part of a systemwide process, with applications solicited across the UC campuses. A selection committee composed of systemwide and campus leaders and current and past staff advisors reviewed the applications and selected finalists for the president’s consideration. "I have great respect for the contributions of staff advisors to the Regents, so it is a privilege to select Priya for this role. Priya has worked tirelessly for UC Merced – from her work advocating for greater equity for staff to her service on the Valuing Black Lives Task Force – and I’m grateful for the commitment and passion she’ll bring to her advocacy for staff across UC,” President Drake said. “We’re in a transformative time,” Lakireddy said. “President Drake and Chancellor Muñoz have both had tremendous first years, and we’re welcoming students, faculty and staff back onto our campuses. This is the right time to invest in the people who make UC great. And I’m honored to be a part of this work.”

2009, the same year First Lady Michelle Obama congratulated UC Merced’s historic first graduating class. Lakireddy wasn’t sure what her next step would be, but she was drawn to UC Merced’s promise and opportunity. “It wasn’t until I stepped onto the UC Merced campus in 2014 that I realized the transformative power of higher education. My first job at UC Merced was literally opening doors for people coming into the building. And I see all my work since then — up to my selection as staff advisor — as a continuation of that role. I’m committed to opening doors.” When Lakireddy’s family immigrated to the U.S. from India she was 18, and she remembers struggling to balance school with work to help support her family. “Now I see how awesome those experiences were – how they helped me become the person I am. I’m able to share my story with others.” Now a contract administrator in Procurement Services, Lakireddy found her career path at UC Merced and her community in the staff assembly. “The people I met in staff assembly in 2014 are now among my best friends. I started as co-chair for events — which is a great way to connect with people across the university — and worked my way up to President and Senior CUCSA Delegate.” Lakireddy is looking forward to sharing with the Regents some of what UC staff have learned during this past year. “We come to work as caregivers, as parents, as members of our community. Granting UC’s staff the

UC staff members deserve every opportunity to develop and thrive — especially people who haven’t traditionally received those opportunities. I’m excited about continuing UC’s work toward becoming a truly inclusive workplace, where staff members can grow.

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Spring Commencement >> Class of 2021

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University Communications 5200 Nor th Lake Road Mer ced , CA 95343