View in browser: socs.ci/fallcommencement2023

 
 
 
 
 
UCI Commencement
 
 
 
Bill Maurer
 
 
message from the
DEAN
 
On December 18, UCI will celebrate the accomplishments of more than 600 newly minted degree recipients at the university's third annual campuswide fall commencement ceremony. We're proud to welcome our 130 social sciences fall graduates to our rapidly growing Social Sciences Alumni Network - a collective more than 62,000 Anteaters strong.
 
In the spirit of celebration marking this monumental moment of success and achievement, we're taking an opportunity to spotlight our bold students - current as well as newly named alumni - for their boundaryless efforts to create positive change.

Congratulations to our fall 2023 graduates and all of our outstanding Anteater community. Zot, zot, zot!

Bill Maurer, Dean


 

student
spotlights

Michelle Truong
 
 
Confidence in motion
 
Michelle Truong's journey from undergrad to graduate student, and how UCI gave her the confidence to tackle anything
 
 
 
Kierra Smeenge
 
 
Net worth
 
UCI women's soccer player and psychology major Kiera Smeenge on balancing sports with studies and life with type 1 diabetes
 
 
 
 
Kyle Sanders
 
 
Soc sci shoutout: Kyle Sanders, ’23 business economics
 
Following his December commencement, Sanders will be focusing on Eatery - a food discovery mobile app he launched while an Anteater
 
 
 
Valentina Toledano
 
 
True grit
 
Valentina Toledano, UCI first-gen undergraduate political science and language science double major, embodies the Anteater spirit
 
 
 
 
Morgan Dickinson
 
 
Soc sci shoutout: Morgan Dickinson, ’23 psychology
 
After her December grad ceremony, Dickinson will be heading to Cal Baptist for a forensic psychology master’s program
 
 
 
Samuel Atiye
 
 
Goal oriented
 
From his West African roots to his German upbringing, UCI men's soccer midfielder and sociology major Samuel Atiye balances heart and ambition
 
 
 
 
Jack Stevens
 
 
Strokes of determination
 
How persistence and drive led UCI business economics major Jack Stevens to UCI and the men's water polo team
 
 
 
Orion Pettit
 
 
Soc sci shoutout: Orion Pettit, '23 psychology
 
The summer graduate and former Regents Scholar is planning to pursue a career helping people improve their mental health and wellbeing
 
 
 
 
Hannah Chau
 
 
Ticking off like a metronome
 
UCI track star Hannah Chau, '23 demographic and social analysis, has her sights set on a career in medicine following her record breaking athletics career as an Anteater
 
 
 
Hafen and Wei
 
 
Dual Fulbrighters from UCI soc sci
 
Elizabeth Hafen, '22 political science and psychology, and Michelle Wei, '22 social policy & public service and education sciences, earn Fulbright honors
 
 
 
 

undergraduate
honors & awards
 
Zayaan Khan
 
 
Khan named Social Sciences Alumni Academic Excellence Scholar
 
Honor recognizes the second-year social policy and public service and quantitative economics double major for outstanding academic performance and service to the School of Social Sciences, UCI campus and community
 
Brandi Madison
 
 
Madison awarded Outstanding Community College Transfer Student Scholarship
 
Honor recognizes the political science transfer student for academic excellence
 
Carolina Llerenas
 
 
Llerenas receives prestigious UC Regents Foster Youth Award
 
Honor recognizes the psychology undergrad for academic excellence and community service
 
 
Alexis Young
 
 
Young awarded Moore Scholarship for Community and Social Change
 
Senior political science and criminology, law and society double major recognized for academic promise and potential to enact change and improve the community
 
Ally Avidan
 
 
Avidan awarded Moore Scholarship for Community and Social Change
 
Honor recognizes the third-year international studies and business administration major for academic promise and potential to enact change and improve the community
 
Cathy Nguyen
 
 
Nguyen awarded Moore Scholarship for Community and Social Change
 
Honor recognizes sophomore psychology major for academic promise and potential to enact change and improve the community
 
 
Claire Yoo
 
 
Yoo awarded Moore Scholarship for Community and Social Change
 
Honor recognizes the second-year international studies major for academic promise and potential to enact change and improve the community
 
Christina Kollias
 
 
Kollias awarded Moore Scholarship for Community and Social Change
 
Third-year political science and social policy and public service double major recognized for academic promise and potential to enact change and improve the community
 
Steven Gong
 
 
Gong named UCI Lauds & Laurels Outstanding Undergraduate Student
 
Honor recognizes the political science, economics, and human biology triple major for excellence in academics and campus and community service
 
 
 
 

graduate
voices
mom doing chores while child pulls on her shirt
 
 
Unveiling repression in Bangladesh
 
Haunted by the increasingly authoritarian practices in his home country of Bangladesh, UCI anthropology graduate student Muhammad Raqib brings the stories of a deepening political repression to light
 
 
Elle Giovanni
 
 
Navigating the brain's complexity 
 
Personal experience inspired UCI cognitive sciences grad student Elle Giovanni to study how traumatic brain injuries impact decision-making
 
 
 
Yanting Li
 
 
Yanting Li's journey to UCI
 
From Guangxi, China to Hong Kong to the US, the UCI language science Ph.D. student’s life experience inspires her studies in word choice decisions and code switching
 
 
Faith Bague-Sampson
 
 
From motorcycles to macroeconomics
 
Faith Bague-Sampson's winding journey to a Ph.D. in economics at UCI
 
 
 
Yiping Kai
 
 
Journalist, activist, researcher
 
UCI global studies Ph.D. student Yiping Cai’s unconventional path to academia  
 
 
Ainsley May
 
 
Bold philosophical questions about mathematical meaning
 
UCI logic & philosophy of science's Ainsley May on what inspires their graduate studies
 
 
 
Tauhid Sayeed Bin Kashem
 
 
Exploring global political institutions and refugee protection
 
UCI political science graduate student Tauhid Sayeed Bin Kashem shares his groundbreaking research and why UCI has been the perfect place for him to pursue his passion
 
 
Cherry Ji ice skating
 
 
Balancing blades and books
 
Cherry Ji, UCI Department of Sociology Ph.D. candidate, has spun her passion for figure skating into award-winning research
 
 
 
 
 
commencement
calendar
 
 
 
 
 
18
 
DEC
 
   
 
UCI Campuswide Commencement Ceremony
 
10:00 a.m. | UCI Bren Events Center