Alumni Profile
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Costumes get lead role
New gift from alumnus Jim Gunderson (Rachel Carson ’77, philosophy) ensures students have the opportunity to step into costumes that enrich their experience and enhance their performances.
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Do everything with love
Tiffany Harmon’s bequest to KZSC illustrates the alumna’s passion for contributing to causes she values
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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.
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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.
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MacArthur ‘genius’ grant winner reflects on early influences at UC Santa Cruz
Forrest Stuart has built his career pursuing burning questions about the societal underpinnings of poverty and criminalization across disciplines. Stuart said his research focus has been influenced both by his childhood and the formative experiences of his undergraduate education at University of California, Santa Cruz, where he earned his bachelor’s in politics in 2004.
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The power of research
Wilfrido Hernández Flores discovered social science research in the Culture and Achievement Collaborative, and it changed his life
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The healing power of yoga
Powerful Netflix documentary ‘I Am Maris’ explores student Maris Degener’s fall into anorexia, her discovery of yoga as a healing tool, and her eventual recovery.
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Explore the “superbloom” in Santa Cruz County
A new Field Guide to Plants of UC Santa Cruz makes exploring the landscapes of the campus—and the county—fun and rewarding.
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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.
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Gov. Newsom appoints UCSC alumna Kris Perry to key post
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed UC Santa Cruz alumna Kris Perry, a nationally recognized advocate for children, to a key post in his new administration.
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Alumna Irma Eréndira Sandoval leads Mexico’s anti-corruption efforts
Mexico’s new president tapped UC Santa Cruz alumna Irma Sandoval to lead the government’s anti-corruption efforts.
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LA County’s new public defender is guided by ‘presumption of innocence’
This fall, UCSC alum Ricardo Garcia will take the helm of the LA County Public Defender’s Office—the largest and oldest public defender’s unit in the country.