Campus Community

Open Arms, Open Skies: Students Welcomed at Spirited, Soggy Scholars Bridge Crossing

August 26, 2025

Spirits were high and futures bright while all else was soaked in a summer storm that made Tuesday morning’s Scholars Bridge Crossing, UC Merced’s traditional greeting to new students, a welcome unlike any before. Call them Thunder ‘Cats. The ceremony embraced about 2,000...

Ph.D. Student Lands Competitive GEM Fellowship

Quantitative and Systems Biology graduate student Maria Mendoza was awarded a fellowship from the National GEM Consortium. The GEM fellowship promotes opportunities for masters and Ph.D. students...

UC Merced Celebrates Student Philanthropy Month

For the first time, through March, UC Merced’s Student Alumni Association (SAA) will partner with the Office of Alumni Relations to host a month-long initiative dedicated to building a culture...

Campus Names New Vice Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer

Delia S. Saenz, Ph.D., will join UC Merced as vice chancellor and chief diversity officer, after a nationwide search. She will begin this spring. Chancellor Juan Sanchez Muñoz announced...

UC Merced Reports Consecutive Rise in Applicant Numbers for Fall  

The University of California announced today (Feb. 24) that its campuses received a record-breaking number of applications for fall 2022.  For the second year, UC Merced saw an increase of...

Professor's Film Earns High Praise

Professor Yehuda Sharim’s latest documentary, “ Letters2Maybe,” has opened to glowing reviews at the New Jersey Film Festival. The film is based on events and dreams that took...

Environmental Systems Student Earns Graduate Student Policy Award

Environmental Systems Ph.D. student Zachary Malone was awarded the Ecological Society of America’s (ESA) Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award. This award provides graduate...

McCloskey Earns a Place Among Fellows in Prestigious Bioengineering Organization

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has elected founding faculty member Professor Kara McCloskey into its College of Fellows for outstanding contributions to...

Applied Mathematics Professor Suzanne Sindi, Postdoctoral scholar Lihong Zhao and immunology Professor Katrina Hoyer

Postdoc Awarded Fellowship to Support Computation and Immunology Cross-training

Postdoctoral scholar Lihong Zhao was one of 10 researchers named a 2022 Intersect Fellow by the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) — a first for UC Merced. The AAI Intersect...

Love is in the Air and in the National Park this Spring

Preparations are underway for this year's production of Shakespeare in Yosemite, and the show promises to be groovy. Working with students, Professors Katie Brokaw and Paul Prescott are...