Alumni Profile
-

Experimental economist explores overlooked aspects of human behavior
Alumna Alessandra Cassar, now a professor at the University of San Francisco, found her path by working with UC Santa Cruz’s Learning and Experimental Economics Projects (LEEPS) laboratory as a graduate student.
-

A legacy of philanthropy and leadership at UC Santa Cruz
Alumnus Steve Bruce (Cowell ’79, economics) reflects on his support for his alma mater.
-

Rooted in resilience: Alumna Natalie Nguyen reflects on her journey
Recent UC Santa Cruz graduate Natalie Nguyen (Kresge ’23, economics) reflects on her UC Santa Cruz journey and post-graduation endeavors.
-

Accounting ambitions
One year after graduation, Yehan Weerasuriya works at PwC as a consultant and associate in the Capital Markets and Accounting Advisory group.
-

Excellence in Action: Celebrating UCSC’s 2023 Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award Recipients
Now in its seventh year, the Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award welcomes its 2023 cohort.
-

Young alum creates bequest to empower future generations
Alumna Cassi Janakos, co-founder of a company offering corporate lactation programs, created an endowment for the UC Santa Cruz Feminist Studies Department with the aim of empowering other women as leaders and innovators
-

New scholarship supports under-represented students
Alum establishes establishes the Edith and Leon Rosenthal Memorial Diversity Scholarship to help high-achieving under-represented students from the Bay Area attend UC Santa Cruz
-

Appetite for entrepreneurship leads alum to launch successful meal-prep business
Economics alumnus Andy Sartori, a Sacramento Business Journal 40 under 40 honoree, helps people eat with purpose.
-

Enabling women and girls to achieve their potential
Alumna Ann Starrs, director of family planning at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, came to reproductive health work from a steadfast commitment—strengthened by her time at UC Santa Cruz—to feminism, gender equality, and women’s empowerment.
-

Proud Slugs making a difference through public service
A Superior Court judge. The director of the public art program for Los Angeles. A defense attorney. They all believe in public service, and they all say their time at UC Santa Cruz changed their lives in permanent ways.
-

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and Google exec Dennis Troper share tips and tales
During a campus visit on Saturday, tech titan Susan Wojcicki urged college students to pursue careers of meaning and impact in fields that are growing—and to be flexible and humble as they begin their work lives.
-

International economics graduate named deputy governor of China’s central bank
An early graduate of the international economics Ph.D. program at UC Santa Cruz has been named to a top position at China’s central bank, a move seen as a step toward a future high-level appointment to the International Monetary Fund.