When Isabelle Haddad, a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Systems, looks ahead to the next chapter, her future is already coming into focus.
The New York native participated in commencement in May and will defend her dissertation in August. She will then begin a one-year, full-time position on Aug. 31 as a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Transportation Affordability and Equity Fellow.
UC Merced saw broad gains in the U.S. News and World Report 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings with graduate programs rising in national standing, reflecting the campus’s growing academic and research profile.
Most weekdays, civil engineering major Jacqueline Garcia travels 45 minutes each way from her hometown of Hughson to attend classes at UC Merced.
“The perk is being able to pursue my undergraduate degree while still having a tie to home. It's been great having the campus here in the Valley,” she said.
While she has enjoyed living at home while attending a UC campus, the third-year undergraduate student said commuting does pose some challenges. Early on, she often went home right after class, making it harder to join evening activities.
Ten UC Merced graduate researchers are gearing up to deliver the most intense three minutes of their academic careers.
Each spring, master’s and Ph.D. students across the campus’s three schools are invited to participate in Grad Slam — a fast‑paced competition that challenges scholars to distill their cutting‑edge research into a crisp, engaging presentation for a general audience.
The ARCS Foundation Northern California awarded five UC Merced graduate students with 2025-26 fellowships. ARCS advances science and technology in the United States by providing financial awards to exceptional graduate-level scholars in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.
In total, the ARCS Foundation Northern California has gifted more than $200,000 in fellowship support to UC Merced since 2022.
This year’s ARCS recipients:
This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2025 semester.
Drake Ledford was an exemplary high school student, earning a 4.29 GPA. The Merced Union High School District (MUHSD) recognized him as one of its top scholars. He was also honored as valedictorian for his class and a California Scholarship Federation Sealbearer, the highest level of recognition for academic achievement, at his graduation in June.
Two UC Merced graduate students and an alum from the School of Natural Sciences were recently awarded fellowships from the highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
This year, NSF awarded 1,000 GRFP fellowships compared to about 2,000 in previous years.
UC Merced has earned two 2025 Carnegie distinctions, the Student Access and Earnings Classification “Opportunity Colleges and Universities” and the Institutional Classification by the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on Education.
“It speaks to the mission and values we uphold as a student-centered, academically rigorous research institution,” said Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz.
Adekunle “Kunle” Adewole isn’t a stranger to the spotlight, having grown up singing at family functions and performing in theater productions. He also has fervently watched “The Voice,” a singing reality competition television series, envisioning himself performing on stage.
“’The Voice’ is part of my singing journey. I've always wanted to do it, and maybe at some point I'll get the chance to perform there,” he said. “I’d probably sing ‘Jealous’ by Labrinth, or ‘Get to You Again’ by Mac Ayres.”
UC Merced’s School of Engineering and its programs continue to be recognized by U.S. News & World Report as demonstrated in the release today of its 2025 Best Graduate Schools rankings.
The R1 school advanced three spots in the latest Best Overall Engineering Schools rankings, inching closer to the nation’s top 100.
“We will continue to strive for even greater heights and to make impactful contributions to the field,” School of Engineering Dean Rakesh Goel said.
