Many students are drawn to Berkeley’s top-ranked graduate programs, but few are chosen. In 2016, only 21 percent of master’s applicants and 11 percent of doctoral applicants were accepted. And for the talented students who beat the odds, financing their education can feel like an insurmountable hurdle; the financial aid available doesn’t adequately address their needs.
That’s where graduate fellowships come in. Every year, about 2,000 graduate students are supported by about $16 million in private funds, enabling them to pursue their dreams and lay the groundwork for a career.
The following students are making the most of the opportunity made possible by fellowship donors. While pursuing distinctive goals, their work expresses a common desire — to help others lead healthier, safer, and more enjoyable lives.
For Kaveh Danesh Ph.D. ’23, economics is not just about numbers — it’s about human life, and creating systems that meet people’s needs. With the support of the Berkeley Fellowship and the Audrey and Charles Kelly Aikin Scholarship, Danesh is viewing his Ph.D. in economics through an interdisciplinary lens. A public health course led him to become involved in improving access to education for the children of agricultural workers, and a journalism course honed his storytelling skills to help connect policy-relevant research to individual narratives.
This bedrock of financial support is enabling Danesh to pursue a new road to public service: a medical degree.
Kaveh Danesh Ph.D. '23
“[What I love about Berkeley is] its strength across disciplines, and its commitment to asking the right questions and making the right changes for society.”
For Nailah Morgan M.J. ’17, philanthropic support opened a career path that aligns with her heart and mind. The Marlon T. Riggs Fellowship — named in honor of the pioneering African American filmmaker who helped found the celebrated documentary program in the Graduate School of Journalism — made Morgan’s graduate work possible.
Revealing the richness and complexity of human experience, Morgan recently produced a 25-minute documentary about Haitian immigrants living in Tijuana. She has also covered a Danish all-girls skateboarding team and a high school program for African American males.
Morgan’s work has already appeared on KQED, a local public television station.
Nailah Morgan M.J. ’17
“We’ve created a really safe place here, to figure out who we are, not only professionally, but who we are as women, as men, as people of color.”
Hortencia Rodriguez M.P.P./M.A. ’17, who received a Charlie and Maria Dickson Graduate Fellowship, has used her resources to address poverty issues in her native Puerto Rico and across the United States. She came to the Goldman School of Public Policy to complement her ethnographic research experience with quantitative research skills in order to improve the deployment of critical social services for low-income single mothers, migrant children, and others in need.
Hortencia Rodriguez M.P.P./M.A. ’17
“At Berkeley, I am exploring the intersections of new subjects, such as food justice and agriculture, to find fertile ground for coalitions and partnerships.”
She has also organized student-led symposiums that spotlight issues of ethnic and racial diversity in the analysis and practice of public policy. Citing humility as key to a career in service, Rodriguez will no doubt touch and enhance many lives, thanks in part to her fellowship support.
