“I've come a long way,” said CSUDH alumna Teresa Ramirez, reflecting on her college and career path. A first-generation Mexican-American born in Torrance, and raised in Compton, Ramirez was the first member of her family to pursue a college education. Ramirez was a self-described “shy, quiet, somewhat naïve” first-year college student. By the time she graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology, Ramirez had developed “the confidence that I needed to be a leader, someone who can communicate without being afraid.” Ramirez traces much of her success to being awarded a CSUDH Presidential Scholarship, the university's premiere scholarship program, in recognition of her outstanding ... Read More
STEM
Cal State Dominguez Hills receives $10 Million in Federal Grants
Carson's Cal State Dominguez Hills has received $10 million in federal grants to establish a comprehensive residency program that will train more than 250 science, technology, engineering and math teachers and serve 40,000 students through grade 12 in Los Angeles County. Dubbed Project REAL – Residency for Equity through Action and Learning – the 15-month-long residency provides graduate-level STEM teacher candidates with a $24,000 stipend and pairs them with trained teachers in historically understaffed local schools. “This is transformational for the campus community and for the schools and communities we serve,” said Prof. Kamal Hamden, director of the Center for Innovation in STEM ... Read More
Center for Innovation in STEM Education Receives $13 Million in Federal Funding
It was a September to remember for the Center for Innovation in STEM Education (CISE) at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), thanks to the announcement of three U.S. Department of Education (DOE) grants totaling $13 million. "We compete with hundreds of universities and organizations for each of our grants,” said CISE Director and Annenberg Endowed Professor Kamal Hamdan. “Considering the competition, it is very rewarding and exciting to learn that one or more of our proposals were selected for funding.” A New STAR on Campus On Sept. 26, Hamdan received word that the DOE had awarded CISE a five-year, $7 million grant through the Teacher Quality Partnership Grant ... Read More
John Price Receives Fifth DOE Grant to Continue Proton Research
John Price, professor of physics and interim dean of graduate studies and research at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), conducts original research in nuclear physics with his students, and their success has kept the funding coming in. Price recently received a three-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to expand “Nuclear Physics with Short-Lived Beams,” his ongoing experimental nuclear physics program in proton research. This is the fifth grant the DOE has awarded Price for the program since 2007. The funding covers research costs for Price and his students, including travel to the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in ... Read More
David Puerta: Forging a Path in Biotechnology
When Forge Therapeutics COO and VP of Discovery David Puerta first set foot on the CSUDH campus, he wasn't sure what kind of career he wanted to pursue. As a first-generation college student, his (and his parents') initial goal had been to just get to college. After being recruited to play soccer for the Toros, he started classes with only a vague notion that he wanted to be involved in science. “I was always interested in science,” Puerta said, “but I didn't know where you could go with that in terms of a career, outside of being a physician or dentist..” Due to a close relationship with his chemistry professor, Leonardo Martinez, Puerta began to focus his studies on biotechnology. ... Read More
