UC Spotlight: April 2025

Jamal Myrick, director of UC Riverside’s African Student Programs, delivered 115 laptops to Guyana to support education and employment opportunities in schools and underserved communities.

Vanessa Aviva González-Siegel has achieved several firsts in higher education as a transgender woman. Today she is director of the UCLA LGBTQ Campus Resource Center, a role through which she lives her commitment to higher education inclusion and LGBTQ+ advocacy.

UC San Diego Coach Eric Olen shared insights into his Triton basketball experience, including what he admires about his players, why he’s remained at UC San Diego and what he loves about being a coach.

UCSF Campus Life Services Tech Lead Wayne Cheung shared his story of founding an education-focused nonprofit based in Nepal.

The UC Santa Cruz Science Division recognized Jeannette Peters, Patti Schell and Deana Tanguay with its new Outstanding Staff Award, which recognizes leadership, innovation, and “invisible labor” — work that is unseen or undervalued despite its essential role.

Marianne Frapwell, director of Campus Advocacy, Resources and Education at the UC San Diego Sexual Assault Resource Center, led an interactive workshop that invited attendees to apply trauma-informed strategies to support healing, resilience and student success.

Alison Wong will draw upon personal experience for her approach to managing collaborative care as the new director of integrative services at the Simms/Mann UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology.

Mikael Villalobos, associate vice chancellor for the Office of Campus and Community Relations at UC Davis, sat down with UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May to discuss how his career has been driven by a commitment to the university’s Principles of Community.

Tamara Villarina, retail services manager at UCSF Campus Life Services, shared a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her life at UCSF. 

Steven Lucero is director of the UC Davis Tech Foundry, a facility that uses 3D printers, CNC machines and laser cutters to create one-of-a-kind devices and prototypes. He shares highlights of his team’s work and what he plans to accomplish.

Christa Carretero, executive chef at UCLA Lake Arrowhead Lodge, shares her career journey, enthusiasm for mentoring others and approach to delicious cuisine, as well as her perspective as a woman in a male-dominated field.

Business Systems Analyst Erica Ávila, Information and Educational Technology, was honored with the UC Davis Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity and Community. Erica helped establish the UC Davis Womxn In Technology Employee Resource Group and led a Crowdfund UC Davis effort that netted $5,000. 

April Sather and Allison Henry — extraordinary chief information security officers who are committed to making UC a safe place to work, study and do research — were highlighted in the 2024 Cyber Risk Program Annual Report for their nominations as ORBIE Award Finalists. 

Miguel “Mike” Vigo IV, chief revenue officer at UC San Diego Health, shared insights into his career, from his leadership perspective to what inspires him.

UC Merced senior Maddison Crump works as a fellow for belonging and resilience at the campus’s Bright Success Center, which supports all students and provides structured support to those whose backgrounds include foster care, undocumented status or incarceration. The UC Board of Regents has honored her with a Foster Youth Award.

UCLA marked the opening of the Latinx Success Center with a vibrant Floreciendo en Comunidad — flourishing in the community — celebration. 

UC Davis Health team members traveled to India with Rotaplast International to provide free surgical care for children with cleft lips and palates, as well as serious burn scars.

The UC San Diego WIFIRE team helped responders fight the Jan. 2025 Los Angeles-area fires and aims to prevent future megafires.

The UC Santa Barbara Women’s Center celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Several colleagues were honored with Faculty, Staff and Student Awards from the UC Riverside School of Medicine.

The Research, Teaching and Learning organization at UC Berkeley launched the “Finding Space” podcast to highlight the experiences of the campus’ disability community. The first episode featured ⁠Disabled Students’ Program Executive Director Carmen Varela.

UC Davis Health celebrated the opening of MobileMammo+, the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center’s first-ever mobile mammography clinic. It will help increase access to breast cancer screening in marginalized and hard-to-reach rural communities.

UC’s Central Travel Office is a finalist in the 2025 Business Travel Sustainability Awards. UC is the only nonprofit or higher education institution among the finalists for this international recognition.

UCSF employees Mario, Esther, Antonio and Brianna Carmona shared the story of how their whole family began working at UCSF.

The UC Irvine Libraries team has compiled “Anteater Experience: 60^th Anniversary of UC Irvine”— a special exhibit tracing six decades of campus history, spotlighting key developments that have shaped the university from its opening in 1965 to today.

The UC Davis Fire Department has provided four new, self-service cabinets in high-traffic campus locations to distribute naloxone nasal spray (also known as Narcan) — a life-saving opioid antidote.

UC Berkeley celebrated the opening of Creekside Center, a new home for UC Berkeley’s Disabled Students’ Program, which serves about 5,500 students.

UC San Diego’s International Services and Engagement Office hosted its first Non-Violent and Compassionate Communication Workshop Series, prompting an insightful participant perspective.

The UC Merced Alumni Relations team helped make Student Philanthropy Month a success. This month-long celebration offers students a deeper understanding of philanthropy and its impact on campus and beyond.

Crowdfund UC Davis — a university fundraising platform that supports student, faculty and staff-led projects through community donations — raised over $239,000 in its February cohort, which included 16 successful projects.

The UC Systemwide Procurement was honored in the WBEC Pacific 2024 Business Excellence Awards.

​UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ North Bay Science Discovery Day engaged 10,000 attendees with interactive STEM activities, inspiring youth through hands-on experiences like medical simulations and ecological demonstrations. ​

​UC Irvine marked the first anniversary of the UCI Health Community Network, formed by the historic acquisition of four community hospitals and their outpatient locations. The acquisition transformed UCI Health into one of the state’s largest academic health systems with 1,317 beds.

The UC San Diego Career Pathways team members are helping high school students believe in themselves and in their potential to go to college. They serve nearly 300 students in San Diego and Imperial counties, and meet students where they are.

UC Davis Health teamed up with the Kyle J. Taylor Foundation and Project ADAM Sacramento to provide free heart screening and CPR training for 366 young people at Harper Junior High School in Davis.

UCLA staff, faculty and students hosted nearly 14,000 prospective students at the annual Bruin Day celebration.

UC Merced is partnering with CalPride Valle Central, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences, and advocates from across the nation to develop a program that will help LGBTQ2S+ people quit smoking.

CalFresh Healthy Living nutrition educators at the UC Cooperative Extension’s Central Sierra office are bringing fun and engaging nutrition and physical activity lessons to all Head Start preschoolers in Calaveras County.

UCSF is partnering with local community members to revitalize the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco, with projects including a recent revitalization of Esprit Park.

UC Irvine Health colleagues were recognized at the 30th annual Heroes with Heart gala, hosted by the Trauma Intervention Program of Orange County, for their deep compassion and support for patients in need.

UC Riverside has acquired the entire historical contents of the Press-Enterprise newspaper going back to its 1878 founding, making 150 years of Inland Empire history available to the campus community through the UC Riverside Library.

The UCLA Community School marked 15 years as an innovative teaching and learning environment for students, educators and families.

UC Santa Cruz added new lactation spaces throughout campus for nursing mothers.

UC Irvine Medical Center (Orange), the UC San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the UC San Diego Medical Center were recognized as Optum Centers of Excellence for oncology care.

Five UC medical centers were among only 168 health systems deemed ‘excellent’ for transplants by Optum, recognizing skill in complex transplant needs. Congratulations to medical center teams at UC Irvine, UCSF, UC Davis, UCLA and UC San Diego!