2024 Scholarship and Fellowship Awardees

Sara Acuna-Fleming

Hi, my name is Sara Acuna-Fleming, and I am from the local city of Hayward, CA. I am a 1st-Gen, low-income, system-impacted, Japanese-Latina double majoring in Cognitive Science and Ethnic Studies, with an emphasis in Data Science. I am a part of many communities on campus, including Regents’ and Chancellor’s scholars, NavCal, Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), Latinx Business Student Association (LBSA), Data Scholars, EOP STEM, and URAP research. For URAP, I conduct data cleaning and analysis, literature review, & administrative work under a UC Berkeley professor/mentor studying the psychiatric consequences of intergenerational apartheid trauma. The study spans three generations, serving as the largest and longest-running longitudinal birth cohort study in Africa, and one of the first to assess long-term impacts of prenatal stress in a low and middle-income country. I am considering a PhD in CogSci and am curious about how developmental psychology, healthcare, and neuroscience research can be used to implement more socio-emotional awareness in youth-focused spaces.

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Erina Iwasa

Sara Acuna-Fleming

Erina Iwasa is a first year PhD student in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences department. Before coming to Berkeley, Erina received her bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College and has done research at institutions such as NASA JPL and MIT PSFC. She is currently a member of the Ti Lab, researching DNA-based self-assembling approaches for microelectromechanical systems. Outside her studies, Erina enjoys baking, drawing, and exploring the Bay Area. She hopes to pursue a career in academia after completing her degree.

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"UC Berkeley Cherry Blossoms" by Yanay Rosen

Charlotte Agniel

Madeleine Yamamoto

About the JAWAUCB Scholarships

Each year the Japanese American Women Alumnae of UC Berkeley (JAWAUCB) provides scholarships to four to six undergraduate and graduate women of Asian American descent. As a chartered alumni chapter of the Cal Alumni Association, JAWAUCB partners with UC Berkeley’s Fund Stewardship Department and the UC Berkeley Office of Financial Aid to ensure our scholarships are distributed and that bequests, donations and gifts to our organization are utilized for our scholarships.

Criteria for Scholarship Selection

Students who apply for financial aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®), are considered for JAWAUCB scholarships. The UC Berkeley Office of Financial Aid manages the selection according to the following preferences:

First preference shall be given to women of Japanese ancestry
1. Women of Japanese American ancestry
2. Women of Japanese ancestry from countries other than the US
Second preference shall be given to women of Asian ancestry
Third preference shall be given to all other women

Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the UC Berkeley Office of Financial Aid cannot provide the amounts of our scholarships. Award amounts are different for each student as they make up a portion of that student’s financial aid package. Student award packages are based on a variety of factors such as their expected family contribution as submitted through FAFSA®, grants, or outside scholarships. These factors may change throughout the year for each individual student. For example, a student’s expected family contribution can change or they may receive more money in federal grants. This means that student award amounts may change throughout the year.

Additional Information

A complete list of scholarship recipients since 1970 is available upon request. Please contact us at jawaucb@gmail.com.

Karina Parker, 2019 scholarship awardee