Global Opportunities

UC Irvine | News And Donor Stories

 

UCI ALUMNUS PLEDGES $100,000 TO CREATE FELLOWSHIP IN HUMANITIES

UCI Alumni Association Board Member Dennis Nguyen ’94 Establishes Endowment for Students of East Asian Languages and Literatures

 
Vicki L. Ruiz, dean of the School of Humanities, donor Dennis Nguyen '94 and UCIAA executive director Jorge E. Ancona. Photo by Laurel Hungerford.The UCI Alumni Association announced (March, 2009) that board member Dennis Nguyen ’94 has established a $100,000 endowment to help underwrite educational costs for a first-year graduate student studying Chinese language and literature at UC Irvine.

The Dennis Nguyen Graduate Chinese Literature Fellowship will be awarded to outstanding graduate students with financial need in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures. The department, in UCI’s School of Humanities, focuses mainly on the written works and cultures of  China, Korea and Japan. Professor Martin W. Huang, an expert in the cultural history of Imperial China, serves as department chair.

“This fellowship is a vital recruitment tool in the department’s ongoing efforts to attract the best and brightest students to UCI,” said Vicki L. Ruiz, humanities dean. “Need-based fellowship funding such as this is especially critical in ensuring both access and opportunity.

“We are grateful to Dennis for his passionate support of East Asian Languages and Literatures, a department with global reach and community connections.”

Nguyen graduated from UCI in 1994 with bachelor’s degrees in economics and Chinese language and literature. He earned a master’s in international relations from Johns Hopkins University and a law degree from the University of Minnesota. Nguyen currently is pursuing an M.B.A. at the University of Chicago. As co-founder and chairman of New Asia Partners, he manages one of China’s leading private-equity investment firms. He joined the UCIAA Board of Directors in April 2008.

“Each of us at UCI has a responsibility to help create an environment where all of our students can grow and become successful global citizens. Dennis’ remarkable gift is a testament to his commitment to the university, our students and the future of our global community,” said Jorge E. Ancona, executive director of UCIAA. “He is a valued member of our board of directors and a tireless advocate for the university. We are flattered that he has entrusted us to serve as custodians of his endowment.”

Ancona noted that Nguyen’s international leadership exemplifies the reach that UC Irvine’s academic programs, when coupled with promising, energetic students, can have across the globe.
 
“UCI has had such an important impact on my life,” Nguyen said. “I am always proud of being an Anteater, and I am honored to be in a position where I can help future UC Irvine graduate students become the next generation of leaders by creating what I hope is a lasting legacy.”
 

In photo above: Vicki L. Ruiz, dean of the School of Humanities, donor Dennis Nguyen '94 and UCIAA executive director Jorge E. Ancona. Photo by Laurel Hungerford.