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Former Gov. Gray Davis Awarded Chancellor’s Medal for Transformative Leadership in Bringing UC Merced to the Central Valley

February 24, 2026
At an intimate gathering of supporters, UC Merced awarded former Gov. Gray Davis the Chancellor’s Medal — the university’s highest honor — in recognition of his instrumental role in bringing the 10th University of California campus to Merced. The medal was presented recently during a special...

Spotlighting Black Trailblazers Whose Stories Deserve to be Told

February 12, 2026
Black History Month often honors familiar names, leaders whose courage and determination changed the course of a nation. But many others have made groundbreaking contributions that exposed injustice, advanced civil rights, reshaped American culture and revolutionized technology. Their achievements...

Ph.D. Student Awarded Fellowship to Advance Environmental Health and Harmful Algal Bloom Mitigation

December 18, 2025
Public health Ph.D. student Felix Agyemang Opoku has been awarded the UC Global Health Initiative Center for Planetary Health Water and Health Summer Research Fellowship. The research fellowships are designed to provide students with funding to conduct research on water and health. Opoku, who works...

People Don’t Worry About Losing Jobs to AI, Even When Told It Could Happen Soon

November 18, 2025
As debates rage about artificial intelligence's impact on jobs, new research suggests that even warnings that AI could disrupt workers' employment soon do little to shake their confidence. In a survey-based study, political scientists Anil Menon of UC Merced and Baobao Zhang of Syracuse University...

First-generation Students Shine at UC Merced. This Week Celebrates Them

November 3, 2025
More than six in 10 UC Merced undergraduates are the first in their families to attend a university. The national average for four-year universities is about two in 10. Opening doors to opportunity for first-generation students is infused into UC Merced’s DNA. Young people who had little to no...

From the Valley, for the Valley: New SJV PRIME+ Students Embark on Journey to Transform Health Care

September 12, 2025
The stethoscopes may come later, but the commitment to community was clear as UC Merced welcomed its newest SJV PRIME+ students last weekend. The Student and Family Welcome event marked the beginning of an eight-year journey for 15 students who will progress from bachelor’s degrees at UC Merced to...

Depression Due to Politics: the Quiet Danger to Democracy

July 7, 2025
On laptop screens, televisions and social media feeds across the nation, images and words fueled by a fractured political landscape spout anger, frustration and resentment. Clashing ideologies burst forth in public demonstrations, family gatherings and digital echo chambers. Red-hot rhetoric and...

Two Social Science Graduate Students Earn Fellowships

July 3, 2025
UC Merced Ph.D. candidates Eliana Fonsah and Nihan Karagul are recipients of the highly competitive dissertation fellowship from the UC Institute of Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC). They competed with doctoral candidates from across the UC system, resulting in about 10% of applicants...

UC Merced's CAPE Takes Extraordinary Steps to Prepare Legislative Interns

June 5, 2025
Mariel Garcia accepted a welcoming handshake from the chief of staff for state Sen. Tim Grayson. A large photograph of rolling hills at sunset near Walnut Creek, a city in Grayson’s district, dominated a wall in the compact reception room. “Good to meet you,” said the chief of staff, Aaron Moreno...

Study Indicates Human-caused Dust Events are Linked to Fallow Farmland

June 2, 2025
An average of more than 1 million acres of idled farmland a year is a significant contributor to a growing dust problem in California that has implications for millions of residents’ health and the state’s climate. A new study published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment by UC Merced...

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