COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES
GRADUATE DIVISION
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING & SCHOOL OF NATURAL SCIENCES
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES,
HUMANITIES AND ARTS
Lucia Barboza
Student Speaker
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING & SCHOOL OF NATURAL SCIENCES
Lucia Barboza is a first-generation computer science and engineering major from Delhi.
During her time at UC Merced, Barboza was an intern for the Valley Institute for Sustainability and Technology — known as VISTA. She supported campus sustainability initiatives through web development and content strategy.
Through her participation in the UCDC Program, she worked with the American Historical Association in Washington, D.C., focusing on efficient legislative tracking and website management.
She also completed two software engineering internships with Salesforce contributing to internal tools and learning to work within a large-scale engineering environment.
After graduation, Miss Barboza will begin a full-time role as a software engineer at Salesforce and plans to pursue a master’s degree in cybersecurity.
Maya Manesh
Student Speaker
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, HUMANITIES AND ARTS
Maya Manesh is from Dublin, California, is a double major in cognitive science and sociology.
While at UC Merced, she served as treasurer and public relations and outreach officer of the Cognitive Science Student Association, as vice president of the Sociology Club, as vice president of operations for Kappa Kappa Gamma, and as an academic scholar in the Fiat Lux Scholars Program.
She performed undergraduate research in Professor Colin Holbrook's EvoLab and received the Abrescy-Kranich Library Award for Undergraduate Research Excellence.
Manesh was also awarded a University of California Education Abroad Program Global Scholarship to study abroad at the University of Padova in northern Italy in spring and summer 2024.
After graduation, she plans to become a college advisor to help increase accessibility to higher education.
Kristynn Sullivan, Ph.D.
Director, Merced County Department of Public Health
Dr. Kristynn Sullivan, Ph.D., is the Director of the Merced County Department of Public Health (MCDPH). She holds a Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology from the University of California, Merced, and has dedicated her career to advancing public health initiatives in the region.
Dr. Sullivan began her public health journey at MCDPH as an epidemiologist before rising to Division Manager, where she led critical programs, including COVID-19 operations, Communicable Disease, Emergency Preparedness, and Epidemiology. She later served as Program Development Director at Central California Alliance for Health (CCAH), a Medi-Cal managed care plan serving five counties, including Merced. At CCAH, she focused on expanding access to non-traditional health services such as Enhanced Care Management, housing support, and school-based health programs.
In March 2025, Dr. Sullivan returned to MCDPH as Public Health Director, bringing a deep commitment to improving the health and well-being of all Merced County residents. She lives in Merced with her husband, two children, and their five pets.
Shirley Collado, Ph.D.
President & Chief Executive Officer of College Track
Shirley M. Collado, Ph.D., is President & Chief Executive Officer of College Track, the most comprehensive college completion program in the country dedicated to democratizing potential among first-generation college students from underserved communities.
Throughout her career, Dr. Collado has leveraged her leadership to advocate for equity in all forms, pushing toward real change by activating an awareness of—and working toward the deconstruction of—existing structures that prevent full participation, whether on campuses or in communities at large.
She is known nationally for designing and implementing innovative approaches in higher education that expand student access and success, and has extensive experience overseeing complex not-for-profit organizations in both the private and public sectors of higher education.
A skillful and dynamic leader, Dr. Collado has previously served as executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer at Rutgers University-Newark; dean of the college and vice president for student affairs at Middlebury; and as the executive vice president of The Posse Foundation, where she scaled its operations nationally.
Michael V. Drake, M.D.
President, University of California
Dr. Michael V. Drake is the 21st president of the University of California, overseeing UC’s world-renowned system of 10 campuses, six academic health centers, three affiliated National Laboratories, and more than 290,000 students and 230,000 faculty and staff.
President Drake also holds faculty appointments at the UCSF School of Medicine as a professor of ophthalmology and at the UC Riverside School of Medicine as a professor of medicine. The trajectory of his career in higher education is truly unique. He is the only higher education leader ever to have been chosen by his peers to lead all of the following prestigious national bodies: the Association of Academic Health Centers, the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
During his tenure as president, he has helped advance healthcare, academics, research, and athletics not only across all UC campuses, but across the country.
The last bit of advice I wanted to share is my own, something that's become clearer to me over the years. It's rather simple – but it's not easy: Focus on today, not yesterday, not tomorrow, but the here and now. I hope you are able to be present today and carry this moment and this accomplishment with you proudly, no matter your path, in the years ahead. I hope you use all that you have learned here to pay it forward, to build a life you are proud of, and to uplift your families, your communities, and the world. Be open to today, soak it in, and celebrate with your loved ones and families.
Michael V. Drake, M.D.
President, University of California
Chancellor's Medal
The UC Merced Chancellor's Medal was established in 2005 and is the highest honor for extraordinary accomplishment that may be bestowed upon an individual by UC Merced.
UC Merced welcomed Dr. Michael V. Drake, the 21st President of the University of California, as our keynote speaker. In recognition of his leadership and commitment to higher education, President Drake was awarded the Chancellor's Medal, UC Merced's highest honor. He joins the ranks of past recipients like First Lady Michelle Obama, former Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante and UC Merced Foundation Trustee Emeritus Fred Ruiz.