Chancellor

UC Merced Graduates Encouraged to Embrace Every Moment

May 19, 2025

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. Hundreds of families and friends joined the graduates in three days of commencement ceremonies at...

Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz outlined the progress UC Merced has achieved across many fields.

2021 State of the University Address Highlights UC Merced’s Accomplishments

Delivering his first in-person State of the University campus address, Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz outlined the progress UC Merced has achieved across many fields and laid out initial plans for...

Dr. Thelma Hurd has been appointed the inaugural Thondapu Family Endowed Chair in Medical Education.

UC Merced Names First Endowed Chair in Medical Education

Distinguished UC Merced Director of Medical Education and public health Professor Dr. Thelma Hurd has been appointed the inaugural Thondapu Family Endowed Chair in Medical Education. “I am...

Campus Receives Distinctive Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award

As one of the most diverse universities in the country, UC Merced is devoted to continuing to provide an inclusive academic environment for all. Today (Sept. 20), UC Merced was recognized with...

UC Merced, City and State Leaders Focus on Affordable Housing

Today (Sept. 7), UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz and Mayor Matt Serratto met with Secretary Lourdes M. Castro Ramírez of the California State Business, Consumer Services and Housing...

UC Merced Faculty Land Three UC-HBCU Grants, Most in System

The University of California Office of the President awarded three out of only seven UC-Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Initiative grants to UC Merced faculty members. The...

A machine developed in Professor Reza Ehsani's lab improves almond harvests by reducing the amount of dust stirred up as the nuts are gathered from the ground.

New AI Institute Expands UC Merced’s Smart, Sustainable Agriculture Effort

With a new $20 million federal grant, UC Merced becomes part of a multi-institutional research collaborative to develop artificial intelligence — or AI — solutions to tackle some of...

Interdisciplinary Humanities Ph.D. student Sabrina Rawson

Incoming Grad Students Awarded Inaugural Inclusive Excellence Fellowship

As part of its commitment to inclusive excellence in graduate research and education, UC Merced has awarded its new Chancellor’s Fellowship for Inclusive Excellence to four incoming Ph.D....

Former Assemblymember Rusty Areias, U.S. Rep. Jim Costa, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz pose for a photo on the UC Merced campus.

California Lieutenant Governor Tours UC Merced

Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis visited UC Merced in early June for a tour of the new Merced 2020 Project facilities and to learn more about water and agriculture concerns. Kounalakis and UC Merced...

UC Merced Receives Largest Philanthropic Gift in Campus History

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