By Katherine Connor
Nine undergraduate computer science and engineering students at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego have been selected as inaugural recipients of the ServiceNow scholarship. ServiceNow Scholars are computer science students with outstanding academic merit, including students who have made or show potential to contribute to diversity, equity and inclusion; first generation; and low-income students. The recipients are also all members of the IDEA Scholars program, which fosters community building and academic excellence among engineering students from diverse backgrounds.
The scholarship was made possible by a $1 million gift from software company ServiceNow. The Fortune500 company, which was founded in San Diego in 2004, develops cloud computing platforms to help companies manage digital workflows for enterprise operations. Hundreds of students from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering have played a role in its success as employees and interns, both here in San Diego where the company was founded, and at the current headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“The fact that we go back to UC San Diego year after year is a testament to the value that the UC San Diego students and graduates bring to our company,” said Magaly Drant, Vice President of Developer Productivity at ServiceNow. “We find in those students the right combination between a solid understanding of the fundamentals and an appetite for discovery and challenge that thrives in our complex, fast-paced and ever evolving environment. We are excited to contribute to making access to this education a reality for even more talented students.”
This ServiceNow scholarship gift was amplified by a $500,000 match through the Chancellor’s Scholarship and Fellowship Challenge, with a $1 match for every $2 given. This means a combined $1.5 million toward scholarships for undergraduate computer science students.
The ServiceNow Scholarship is part of a larger effort within the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering to strengthen financial support for students. Many engineering and computer science students at UC San Diego and around the country face a combination of challenges inside and outside the classroom that make completing STEM degrees particularly challenging.
Dean Albert P. Pisano launched the Jacobs School of Engineering Dean’s Scholars of Excellence scholarship program to encourage and inspire the larger community to step up and work together to advance equal access to a Jacobs School education. This includes creating new scholarships to support students with outstanding academic merit, including students who have made or show potential to contribute to diversity, equity and inclusion; first generation; and low-income students. The new ServiceNow Scholarship is the newest part of this Jacobs School of Engineering Dean’s Scholars of Excellence effort.
Learn more about the outstanding students in blog posts linked below: