Faculty | First Generation Initiative

Fear as a Means to Personal Growth - Joe Lee

Joe Lee works in the CA&ES Dean's Office as an academic advisor. He is a graduate of UC Davis and has worked on campus since his graduation.

Stories: Staff

Setbacks are not a reason to give up - Leslie Olivares

Lesllie Olivares works at the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety where she is part of their education and outreach team. In the fall, she will attend graduate school to pursue an MS in Nutrition Biology.

Stories: Faculty

Jeanette Ruiz - FirstGen Story (Video)

Jeanette Ruiz Department of Communication

Communications professor Jeanette Ruiz shares her first generation college student story.

Stories: Faculty

Pave the Way for your Interests - Carole Hom

Carole Hom, PhD serves as the Academic Coordinator for the UC Davis Post-baccalaureate Research and Education Program (PREP) and has worked as a lecturer for the Mathematics Department.

Stories: Faculty

Marina Crowder (Video)

First Generation faculty member and UC Davis alumna Marina Crowder recalls her experiences as a first gen college student. The video is part of the FirstGen First Year Seminars series, produced to help college faculty connect with first gen students.

Stories: Faculty

"The Post Office is Hiring:" An English Major's Journey to JPL, the Rand Corporation, and Higher Education - Nicelma King

Nicelma King Chair, African American and African Studies

- Interviewed by Foxy Robinson

Stories: Faculty

Immigrant Families, American Dreams - Julie Sze

JULIE SZE grew up in New York City’s Chinatown, where her father worked in the restaurant industry after emigrating from China. She attended a “striving immigrant school” oriented toward success in math and science, and was expected to go to college in preparation for a professional career. “This is very typical for a working class Asian immigrant family– it’s tied to the narrative of the American dream.”

Stories: Faculty

Milmon Harrison

FROM THE principal’s office to a successful dance career to a seven-year college journey, Milmon Harrison’s path to being a professor was full of the unexpected. A New Orleans native, he grew up in Hunter’s Point and the Haight-Ashbury District of San Francisco before moving to Stockton and attending middle and high school in Lodi. “That I would end up being a professor is so weird to me because even though I was a smart kid, I didn’t always do well in school. I was easily bored and would always talk to my friends.

Stories: Faculty

Susan Rivera

Growing up in the industrial city of Gary, Indiana, Susan Rivera never dreamed that she would one day head a neuroscience lab researching cognitive development. “College was always part of my plan,” she says, “but as a means to an end. All you think about when you’re growing up poor is having a solid job.” Rivera’s parents had migrated to Gary from Puerto Rico so her father could work in the steel mills. The youngest of thirteen children, her family was loving and happy, but there was no money to spare, and no guidance for getting into college. “I had to do that on my own, and I was a little clueless,” she says. Fortunately, she ended up attending Indiana University – Bloomington, a top public research university.

Stories: Faculty