UC Irvine Giving Day

To our loyal supporters,

I am honored to invite you to join the Chancellor’s Club in Giving Day 2026, a moment to reflect on the transformative power of education and the profound impact philanthropy has on students at UC Irvine. As a first-generation college graduate, I have seen firsthand how access to opportunity, mentorship and financial support can change the course of a life. Education bridges the gap between aspiration and achievement, and for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, that support is often the difference between persistence and possibility.

For more than 50 years, the Chancellor’s Club has been one of UC Irvine’s most enduring philanthropic communities, identifying and responding to the university’s most pressing needs while investing in students whose work is shaping our future. This Giving Day, the Chancellor’s Club is continuing that legacy by directing 100% of Giving Day contributions to support first-generation students through the Chancellor’s Club Fellowship program. Our goal for Giving Day 2026 is to raise $50,000 to expand fellowship support within the Graduate Division, providing critical resources that allow students to focus on completing their degrees and advancing research that benefits communities locally and globally.

Among our 2025-2026 Chancellor’s Club Fellowship recipients is Karen S. Valladares, a PhD candidate in Environmental Health Sciences in the Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health. Karen is a first-generation college student and the daughter of Salvadoran refugees whose academic journey has been shaped by resilience, family responsibility and a deep commitment to health equity. After beginning her education in community college and navigating significant personal loss and family health challenges, she found her calling in public and environmental health. Through national epidemiologic studies and community-based participatory research conducted in partnership with impacted communities, Karen is advancing work that informs policy and addresses the upstream causes of disease.

Also supported through the Chancellor’s Club Fellowship is Ashley Urrutia Avila, a fifth-year PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering. As a first-generation Hispanic American and the daughter of immigrant parents, Ashley learned the value of perseverance, responsibility and integrity while helping support her family’s small business alongside her academic pursuits. She chose biomedical engineering to combine her passion for human health with problem solving and innovation, experiences that solidified her desire to pursue a PhD. Co-advised by Drs. Timothy Downing and Michelle Digman, her research focuses on understanding how cell adhesion signaling drives lung cancer metastasis, with the goal of identifying new therapeutic strategies to prevent cancer progression and relapse. Beyond the lab, she is deeply committed to mentoring first-generation and underrepresented students, helping others see a future for themselves in science.

For students like Karen and Ashley, the Chancellor’s Club Fellowship is transformative. Graduate students often balance rigorous research demands with teaching responsibilities and family obligations, frequently at the expense of the time and focus required to complete their degrees. Fellowship support provides financial stability, flexibility and encouragement from donors who believe in their potential and the importance of their work.

Your gift to the Chancellor’s Club this Giving Day is more than a donation. It is an investment in first-generation scholars, in discovery that advances health and equity and in UC Irvine’s mission to foster an inclusive and impactful academic community. Thank you for helping make Giving Day 2026 a defining moment for our students and our university!

Zotfully yours,
Marissa Norys