Gifts

Innovative Research Secures Coveted Fellowships for Ph.D. Students

January 14, 2026

graphic with five individuals higlighted; three females and two males with UC Merced and ARCS logos on blue background

The ARCS Foundation Northern California awarded five UC Merced graduate students with 2025-26 fellowships. ARCS advances science and technology in the United States by providing financial awards to exceptional graduate-level scholars in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. In...

Students take part in a public health class at UC Merced

Transformative Gift to Gateway Scholarship Boosts UC Merced Undergraduate Support

The Gateway Scholarship Program, UC Merced's longstanding student-support initiative focused on empowering young people from the San Joaquin Valley, has received a significant infusion of funding...

Donor Denise Watkins with her mother, Genelia Phillips.

UC Merced Trustee Denise Watkins Establishes New Scholarship to Encourage Students to Study Abroad

UC Merced undergraduates who dream of expanding their educational horizons by immersing themselves in foreign cultures and far-away countries now have access to vital financial aid for that goal,...

Give to UC Merced 2022 Breaks Fundraising Record

UC Merced's annual month-long fundraising campaign, Give to UC Merced, wrapped up on Dec. 31, 2022, as the most successful in the initiative's history. The effort eclipsed the original goal...

UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz and alumni pose for a photo at Dodger Stadium.

UC Merced Alumni Hit Home Runs in 2022

UC Merced alumni gave back to their alma mater in several big ways in 2022. From endowed scholarships to events, Bobcats are ensuring that current and future students have access to the best...

The Give to UC Merced fundraising effort launched Tuesday, Nov. 29.

Month-long Give to UC Merced 2022 Launches on Giving Tuesday

On Tuesday, Nov. 29, UC Merced will kick off the season of giving by launching Give to UC Merced 2022. The campus’s annual fundraising initiative officially begins on Giving...

UC Merced Doubles Fundraising Campaign Goal

At a kickoff event for UC Merced’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign, the university announced that it has doubled the campaign’s fundraising goal from $100 million to $200...

The Ruiz family have made a significant gift to name the campus’ administration building and enrollment center.

Fred and Mitzie Ruiz Honored for Transformational Gift with Named Administration Center

Fred and Mitzie Ruiz, longtime UC Merced donors and two of the university’s most active and earliest supporters, have made a significant gift to name the campus’ administration building...

A graphic depicts “Boldly Forward: The Campaign for UC Merced.”

UC Merced Launches Landmark $100 Million Fundraising Campaign

Editor's note: Since the launch of the "Boldy Forward" campaign in September, UC Merced has doubled the campaign’s fundraising goal from $100 million to $200 million, thanks in...

Members of the Fresno-Merced Future of Food Innovation (F3) Coalition pose for a photo on Sept. 2, 2022.

F3 Coalition Awarded $65 Million in Build Back Better Funds

The White House announced today (Sept. 2) a $65.1 million award — the largest federal grant ever awarded to the Central Valley — to the Fresno-Merced Future of Food Innovation (...