Chancellor

The American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation Recognize UC Merced's Leadership in Community Engagement

January 12, 2026

collage of photo with yellow text on a blue background reading Carnegie Elective Reclassification for Community Engagement

UC Merced has once again been recognized as a national leader in community-engaged scholarship. The 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement affirms the university’s deep and expanding commitment to serving the public. The designation from the American Council on...

20 Years In, UC Merced Celebrates Achievements, Looks to Future

Only 20 years since undergraduate instruction began, UC Merced is a recognized leader in conducting academic research, developing young minds for career success and driving economic growth, the...

United for Education: Merced Institutions Forge a Stronger Future Together at UC Merced Summit

In an unprecedented show of unity, leaders from Merced City School District, Merced Union High School District, Merced College and UC Merced came together to discuss how continued collaboration can...

UC Merced chancellor, alumni president, chancellor's wife

Play Ball! Bobcats Enjoy Grizzlies Baseball Game

Baseball fans from the UC Merced campus community celebrated the start of the fall semester by witnessing a barnburner of a game at Fresno’s Chukchansi Park. More than 250 Bobcat students,...

UC Merced Graduates Encouraged to Embrace Every Moment

With cheers, hugs and leis, more than 1,500 UC Merced graduates received a celebratory sendoff to their bright futures as a prominent keynote speaker told them to make the most of the here and now...

Group of five female graduates at commencement

Carnegie Recognizes UC Merced for Student Access, Grad Earnings

UC Merced has earned two 2025 Carnegie distinctions, the Student Access and Earnings Classification “Opportunity Colleges and Universities” and the Institutional Classification by the...

UC Merced Achieves R1: Highest Tier of Research Classification

UC Merced has assumed its place in the top echelon of research institutions in the nation by earning R1 status from Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The announcement was...

UC Merced to Celebrate Hundreds of Graduates at Fall Commencement

UC Merced will celebrate hundreds of graduates alongside their friends and families in the Art Kamangar Center at the Merced Theatre this weekend. There are 402 Bobcats set to participate in the...

UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz moderates a panel featuring California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian, University of California President Michael Drake and California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia.

Summit Aims to Ease the Path for Transfer Students

Between 70% and 80% of students who start classes at community colleges plan to transfer to four-year universities. But only between 20% and 30% do. In California, that number is closer to the...

Fresno Developer Ed Kashian Named 2024 Chancellor's Medal Recipient

Philanthropist and community leader Ed Kashian was awarded the UC Merced Chancellor’s Medal, the university’s highest honor, at the campus’s State of the University event on Oct. 9...