Announcing the 2017 Eugene Jarvis Innovation Scholarship Recipient
In 2015, a generous gift by game developer Eugene Jarvis established the Eugene Jarvis Media Innovation Scholarship, in support of undergraduate students learning to critically analyze and help shape developments in new media.
Recognizing that education has become increasingly expensive and that students as a result are motivated to make educational decisions based on future job prospects, Jarvis hopes to promote intellectual exploration. “The undergraduate experience is the most formative in education,” Eugene Jarvis has said. “It’s the one time in your life you have an open mind and are absorbing knowledge while trying to find your mission on earth […] College is the ultimate kickstarter. I want to give students the freedom to learn the tools that will allow them to make something of their lives.”
This year, the Jarvis Scholarship has been awarded to Carmen Zheng! Carmen has already been exceedingly active in the BCNM and is currently working with Ritwik Banerji on a music ethnography research project. We’re thrilled that she will be supported through this great award.
From Carmen:
I am so grateful to be this year’s recipient of the Jarvis Scholarship. Born and raised in a low-income East Oakland neighborhood, I am not only honored to receive this scholarship, but so grateful for the financial support it provides me as first-generation college student. As a Business Administration and Media Studies double major, I am extremely passionate about communication technologies and exploring changing media environments through an academic lens. My ultimate vision is to revolutionize the way companies and organizations relay powerful positioning statements to mass audiences in today’s digital-centered environment. I currently assist UC Berkeley’s Social Media Director in managing the university’s official social media accounts. Behind a computer, our student team represents the #1 public university in the world to a global online audience of over 400,000. Working in social media has helped keep my finger on the pulse of Internet innovation, and I am extremely excited to be conducting research at the Haas School of Business involving the role of technology in communications as well as finishing up my Undergraduate Certificate in New Media this semester. After graduation, I plan to further achieve my aspirations of becoming a changemaker and leader in the media field by signing with Ford Motor Company as a Marketing & Sales Manager. Thank you so much to the Berkeley Center for New Media and Eugene Jarvis!
The Eugene Jarvis Scholarship is supported by the Ruth Johnson Scholarship Match Program, which provides a dollar for dollar match for gifts to new endowed scholarships. This match was made possible through the bequest of Ruth Johnson, who graduate with honors from UC Berkeley in 1938. She completed graduate work and obtained her teaching credential the following year. She taught French and Spanish in public high schools for 30 years. Ruth survived her husband Milton, a U.S. Army Veteran. During their marriage the Johnsons lived in a number of places in the US and Japan. Ruth was motivated to benefit undergraduate students with scholarships when she learned about the increasing difficulty many students had paying for their Berkeley education – something she treasured throughout her life.