UC San Diego Students Thank Those Who Help Bring Their Dreams to Reality

Jade Berggren | February 11, 2008

Last year, Sheldon and Susan Engelhorn conversed with students who benefited from their scholarship support. On Wednesday, the couple will meet Carolein Toma and other scholarship recipients at the annual dinner.

When Carolein Toma, an undergraduate student who recently transferred to the University of California, San Diego from Cuyamaca Community College, read her financial aid letter from UC San Diego, she couldn’t believe her eyes.  She had not applied for assistance from the Engelhorn Family Scholarship Fund, yet there, in black and white was notice that she would be receiving substantial support from the scholarship fund for her next two years at UC San Diego.

Thinking there was an error, Toma called the UC San Diego Financial Aid Office and was told that indeed, there was no mistake and the scholarship was hers. Each year, a select number of students who have transferred to UC San Diego from a community college are chosen based on merit and need to receive support from the endowed scholarship which bears the family name of Sheldon Engelhorn, ’72, and his wife Susan.  Toma was astonished—and ecstatic about how the scholarship would change her life.

“I was shocked,” says Toma, who is majoring in Human Biology.  “I always knew I wanted to attend UC San Diego and the scholarship has helped me greatly by giving me the ability to focus solely on my studies. Now I do not need to worry about working to fund my education so that, one day, I can become a great doctor who finds treatments for cancer.”

A UC San Diego alumnus himself, Sheldon Engelhorn, likewise appreciates the value of his UC San Diego education. His four years as an undergraduate at UCSD taught him to think, question, learn and apply knowledge for the benefit of society and launched him into a satisfying career, starting as a researcher for the UCSD School of Medicine and later co-founding and investing in various life sciences companies.

“A lot of what I’ve been able to accomplish is due to what I’ve learned at UC San Diego,” Engelhorn adds.

The endowment to support transfer students was established several years ago, when the Engelhorns decided to extend the benefits of a UC San Diego education to a broader population of deserving students.  The couple generously gave $1.25 million to build the Engelhorn Family Scholarship Fund at UCSD, the majority of which has gone to the largest endowed scholarship program for transfer students in the university’s history.

By giving talented transfer students the funds to support a UC San Diego education, the Engelhorns’ scholarship bring students from many backgrounds to campus, including older students, young parents, students with work experience or military backgrounds and students who are the first in their families to enter college.

“We want students to have the opportunity to work alongside other students who come from a wide range of backgrounds,” says Engelhorn. “If our UCSD students are going to become leaders, they need to understand the culture of the individuals they will be leading.”

By assisting 98 transfer students to date, and continuing to lend support to 15 more students each year, the Engelhorns’ gift has transformed many families. And, by bringing the perspectives of dedicated students of diverse backgrounds to campus, the Engelhorn scholarships enrich both UC San Diego and the many communities that will be positively affected by UCSD graduates.

The annual Hearts and Scholars dinner on Wednesday, February 13 will afford the Engelhorns the opportunity to meet the students whose lives have been substantively touched by their generous scholarship fund. Likewise, the students, including Toma, get to express their gratitude to their benefactors and share, face to face, how the scholarship is helping them achieve their dreams.

In Toma’s case, she’ll be sharing her plans for finding the cures to diseases and enhancing the quality of life for a wide array of people from diverse populations around the world.