Transfer Student Bryce Wallace Honored with 2023 Beinecke Scholarship
In Fall 2021, Bryce Wallace (’23, English & Linguistics) was still stunned that he had gotten into Cal as a transfer student from Irvine Valley College, when more UC-related honors started pouring in. He has since received the merit-based Sharer and Gilman Scholarships and was granted a College Corps Fellowship for his strong commitment to community service, especially in the areas of literacy and DEI work on campus. He has participated in URAP and was recently named a Haas Scholar. Then, last month, Bryce gained national recognition when he was […]
Five Berkeley Students Receive Critical Language Scholarships for Summer Study
Five Berkeley students have received Critical Language Scholarships thanks to a U.S. State Department program aimed at expanding the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages that are considered critical to national security and economic prosperity. The scholarship funds overseas summer language and cultural immersion programs for students planning to use their language skills in their future professional careers. This year’s recipients – four undergraduates and one graduate student – will be studying in Kyrgystan (Russian), South Korea (Korean), Indonesia (Bahasa Indonesia), Brazil (Portuguese), and Taiwan (Mandarin). Sara Ahlich (’24, […]
Maji Yaje Kwanza (“Water is the first of many things”): A Strauss Scholarship Recipient’s Life-Changing Experiences in Kenya
When Ashley Miller (’15, Interdisciplinary Studies) transferred to UC Berkeley as a junior in Fall 2012, she had two goals in mind: to study abroad (despite the tight timeline) and to go somewhere entirely different than anywhere she had been before. She chose Kenya. With funding from UC Berkeley’s Miller Scholars program, she planned to research the effects of Kenya’s 2003 free primary education policy. Unfortunately, a national teachers’ strike in 2013 made interviewing teachers and families difficult. As a result, she spent more time, on and off campus, befriending […]
2021–2022 Scholarships Wrap-Up
We’d like to wrap up 2021–2022 by congratulating all of the current Cal Bears and recent alums who received nationally competitive scholarships this academic year, as well as those who submitted strong applications for the more than 25 scholarship programs our office supports. This year’s recipients are: Astronaut Scholars – Nitish Dashora (‘24), Arun Johnson (’23) Critical Language Scholars – Amarpreet Kaur (’22), Ransom Miller (’24), Kristie Moore (’25), Maurice Ruttimann (’22), Satyam Sharma (’25) Gates Cambridge Scholar – Anjali Kantharuban (’22) Goldwater Scholar – Mrunali Manjrekar (’23) Knight-Hennessy Scholar […]
2022 Berkeley Grad Named Yenching Scholar
Updated: March 16, 2023 Only a few months after graduating from Cal, Alexandra Feldman (Political Economy, ’22) will be heading to Peking University to start an M.A. program in China Studies as fully funded Yenching Academy Scholar. She will join an interdisciplinary cohort of 120 other students from around the world who are interested in thinking about China – past, present, and future – from both Chinese and international perspectives. Alexandra, a native of Southern California, first visited Beijing during a four-week Chinese language immersion program after her sophomore year in […]
Nitish Dashora (’24) and Arun Johnson (’23) Receive Astronaut Scholarships
Two Berkeley undergraduates – Nitish Dashora (EECS, ’24) and Arun Johnson (CBE, ’23) – have received the prestigious Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) award for STEM majors who have demonstrated exemplary academic performance and have completed substantial work in their chosen fields outside of the classroom. The honor comes with $15,000, an accomplished mentor, and membership in the ASF network, which includes alumni, astronauts, and leaders in academic, technical research, and corporate leadership. Sophomore Nitish Dashora, from Columbus, Ohio, is interested in machine learning algorithms for general intelligence, namely those concerned […]
Cal Alum Mengyu Dong (’15) Selected as 2022 Knight-Hennessy Scholar
Mengyu Dong (Political Science/History, ‘15) has been awarded a Knight-Hennessy Scholarship to support her graduate studies in journalism at Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences. Recipients of this prestigious scholarship are selected from an international pool of applicants based on their independence of thought, purposeful leadership, and civic mindset. In addition to receiving financial support for their graduate programs, Knight-Hennessy Scholars gain exposure to a wide range of disciplines and cultures in their cohort and participate in the King Global Leadership Program, which is designed to develop transformational leadership capabilities. […]
Two Undergraduate Public Service Projects Awarded 2022 Strauss Grants
Thanks to the ingenuity and commitment of three Berkeley undergraduates, and funding support from the Donald A. Strauss Scholarship Program, two new student-initiated public service projects will be launched over the coming year. Adil Raniwala (Political Science, ’22) and Garrett Oman (History/Public Policy, ’23) will use the $15,000 grant to set up community networks and deliver free halal food to Afghan refugees who were resettled in temporary housing in Alameda County in the wake of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. “Project Peacemeal” will build on the […]
Berkeley Senior and Recent Alum Awarded P. D. Soros Fellowships
Hari Srinivasan (‘22, Psychology/Disability Studies) and Andrew Lu (‘17, MCB) have been awarded the prestigious Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, a scholarship that funds graduate degrees for immigrants and children of immigrants who are “poised to make significant contributions to U.S. society, culture, or their academic field.” The selection of this year’s 30 recipients, out of a pool of 1,800 applicants, was based on merit, with an emphasis on creativity, originality, initiative, and sustained accomplishment. Hari, a first-generation American whose parents immigrated from India, will enter Vanderbilt’s […]
Three Undergraduates Receive Critical Language Scholarships to Study Chinese, Russian, and Turkish
Three Berkeley undergraduates have received Critical Language Scholarships, a U.S. State Department program aimed at expanding the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages that are considered critical to national security and economic prosperity. The scholarship funds overseas summer language and cultural immersion programs for students planning to use their language skills in their future professional careers. Ransom Miller (’24, Global Studies) is headed to Tainan, Taiwan to study Mandarin. Ransom decided to start learning Chinese in middle school because it was the hardest (and therefore the “coolest”) language offered. […]