9th annual Scholarship Benefit Dinner to support UCSC students

UC Santa Cruz will host its ninth annual Scholarship Benefit Dinner on Saturday, February 25, at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose.

The annual benefit dinner is one of UCSC's premier fundraising events—with proceeds providing significant undergraduate scholarships and fellowships for students to help them attain their fullest academic potential.

Many recipients are students who might not otherwise be able to attend the university without this support.

UCSC alumna Susan Wojcicki—senior vice president of advertising at Google—will be the keynote speaker for the event.

The gala evening will also include a special tribute to alumnus Bill Dickinson—founder of the Smith Renaissance Society at UCSC.

Dickinson will receive the UC Santa Cruz Foundation’s Fiat Lux Award for his outstanding commitment to independent students at UCSC—those who are homeless, foster or runaway youths, orphans, or wards of the court.

Emmett D. Carson, chief executive officer of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, will serve as distinguished host.

A key member of the Google startup team, keynote speaker Susan Wojcicki now leads the design, innovation and engineering of all of Google's advertising products –accounting for 96 percent of Google’s revenue.

She joined the company in 1999 as Google’s first marketing manager and worked on its original marketing programs.

Wojcicki also led the initial development of several key successful consumer products including Google Images, Google Books and Google Video.

She graduated with honors from Harvard University, and received her masters degree in applied economics from UC Santa Cruz in 1993.

For the third year in a row, the gala will be held in Silicon Valley, where UCSC faculty and alumni continue to contribute to the innovative research, educational programs, and cutting-edge technologies that define the Valley.
 
With a theme of "Taking on the Future," the festivities will include a cocktail reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. at the Fairmont’s Regency Ballroom. The public is invited.

More students than ever now need financial assistance to attend the university, and in recent years, low and middle income families have been particularly hard-hit by increased costs.
 
Due to the reduction in state support for the University of California, UC fees for an undergraduate California resident are approximately $12,192 for 2011-12. More than two-thirds of UC undergraduates received some form of financial assistance in the past academic year.

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The 2012 UCSC Scholarship Benefit Dinner will be held on February 25 at the Fairmont Hotel’s Regency Ballroom in San Jose. A reception will begin at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. The public is welcome. Cocktail attire. A complimentary Shuttle Service will be available from Santa Cruz to San Jose. For tickets or more information, contact the UCSC Special Events Office, go to the Scholarship Benefit Dinner web site , or call (831) 459-5003.