School of Social Sciences
Embracing Nonconvention
The UC San Diego School of Social Sciences encompasses a bold breadth of disciplines and research areas with a common core: service.
Our grand goal is to build a better world where opportunities abound for everyone. With your philanthropic support of the School of Social Sciences we can make waves for the greater good.
Help us prepare our students to become tomorrow’s leaders, reinventing convention through diverse thought, perspective and impact. Explore our giving priorities below and make a gift today.
Social Sciences Giving Priorities
Enhancing the student experience
By supporting scholarships and fellowships, you help nurture the next generation of social scientists. Students from all backgrounds, experiences and aspirations advance fresh ideas and fuel research and discovery, collectively making lives better for everyone, everywhere.
Give to Social Sciences Excellence Fund
Give to Social Sciences Scholarship Fund
Enriching our campus community
We believe all neighborhoods should be served by excellent schools, and that a healthy environment can coexist with job growth. Join us in manifesting these visions by investing in faculty, teaching and student programs that enrich our community and prepare graduates to thrive in a new generation of jobs.
Give to CREATE K-12 STEM Education Activities
Give to Teacher Preparation Fellowship
Fellowships Make the Difference
The Kroner Family Endowed Fellowship
The Jerri-Ann and Gary E. Jacobs Endowed Fellowship
The Robert S. Koenigsberger/Gramercy Fellowships
Sparking research and innovation
Help us expand Social Sciences to its full potential by investing in research, project-based learning and teacher training — such as the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, where scholars are exploring solutions to restore the nation’s promise of upward mobility.
Promoting academic excellence
As the largest academic unit on campus, the School of Social Sciences is comprised of 11 departments, multiple interdisciplinary degree programs and numerous minors and research units. Our departments are dedicated to preparing students to become change makers, from reinventing policy solutions to addressing disparities and improving educational outcomes.
Give to Department of Anthropology Fund
Give to Department of Cognitive Science Fund
Give to Department of Communication Excellence and Innovation Fund
Give to Department of Economics Fund
Give to Department of Education Studies Fund
Give to Department of Ethnic Studies Fund
Give to Department of Linguistics Fund
Give to Department of Political Science Fund
Give to Department of Psychology Fund
Give to Department of Sociology Fund
Give to Department of Urban Studies and Planning Fund
Making an Impact
An Economist’s Fight Against Inequity
As a young boy in Western India, Karthik Muralidharan noticed the sharp contrast between the haves and have-nots. After receiving a scholarship to study abroad in Singapore, he marveled at how the country had been able to transform from poverty to prosperity in the space of a couple decades. The experience prompted him to shift his career path from engineering to economics.
Now a faculty member in the UC San Diego Department of Economics, Muralidharan is passionate about getting out into the field—running experiments and testing policies to improve the lives of people in developing countries. His most influential studies to date concern India’s education system, ranging from exploring teacher pay and school choice to the use of technology in learning.
Muralidharan is among the scholars selected to conduct research as part of the new Tata Institute for Active Genetics and Society. The initiative was launched by a $70 million commitment from the India-based philanthropic Tata Trusts, $35 million of which will support the new institute at UC San Diego. The goal is to push the boundaries of bioscience in support of human needs, as well as leverage experts in health, policy, economics and ethics to drive societal progress.
“It’s an amazing time to be doing economics—at the confluence of rigor, relevance and impact,” said Muralidharan. “We are privileged to be in a position to do both academically cutting-edge research and to work on alleviating problems that directly affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the poorest parts of the world.”
Social Sciences Changemaker
Alumni Play Integral Role in Campus Fundraising
In March 2017, the university celebrated the kickoff of the public phase of The Campaign for UC San Diego, a bold, ambitious and historic $2 billion fundraising effort. Our alumni played an integral role in the campaign, led by Kenneth Kroner, Ph.D. ’88, a renowned global finance innovator who chaired the International Leadership Committee.
Kroner is an enthusiastic and committed UC San Diego champion who has continuously remained connected and engaged with students, faculty and academic leaders. He and his wife, Jennifer, established the Kroner Family Endowed Fellowship in 2013 to help recruit and support outstanding Social Sciences graduate students. In 2015, Kroner received UC San Diego’s Distinguished Alumni Award, and he serves on the Investment/Finance Committee of the UC San Diego Foundation Board of Trustees.
Giving back to UC San Diego is important to Kroner, and he thinks it will be for other alumni as well. “I will never forget the time and effort that the people at UC San Diego put into me,” said Kroner, recalling his Ph.D. studies in Economics. “I am where I am right now, in large part, because of faculty like Nobel laureates Rob Engle and Clive Granger, among others. I grew up at UC San Diego. I showed up as a kid who rarely left Canada, and went to this great urban environment at a great university surrounded by great scholars … and five years later I was an adult.”
Contact
Can’t find the area that you would like to support? Visit Give Now, or contact us to learn about additional giving opportunities.
Stephanie Venti
Senior Director of Development, Social Sciences
858-246-0372
sventi@ucsd.edu
Amanda J. Corona
Director of Development, Social Sciences
858-246-0232
ajcorona@ucsd.edu
Sara Boehmer
Director of Development, Social Sciences
858-822-0805
sboehmer@ucsd.edu
Kiana Friscia ’14
Associate Director, Donor Programs
858-822-0319
klfriscia@ucsd.edu
Maryann Lapthorn
Development Assistant
858-822-6694
mlapthorn@ucsd.edu
500
Community-based programs connect students and faculty with schools, industries, local and state governments and nonprofit organizations.
1st in the world
The Department of Cognitive Sciences, which takes a multi-specialty approach to understanding human cognitive development.
Renowned faculty
Have included three Nobel laureates and six MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” Fellows.