Cal State San Marcos senior Jeff Jaureguy has been selected to receive the 2019 Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement, the California State University’s highest recognition of student accomplishment.
Jaureguy, a Biological Sciences Major, has been named a Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation Scholar.
The CSU recognizes 23 students every year – one from each CSU campus – with the Trustees’ Award, which accompanies a donor-funded scholarship ranging from $6,000 to $12,000. The awardees will be publicly recognized during the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach on Sept. 24.
Students are selected for their exceptional efforts in the classroom and community. Awardees demonstrate superior academic performance, personal accomplishments, community service and financial need. They have shown inspirational resolve along the path to college success, and many are the first in their families to attend college.
“These 23 student scholars wonderfully embody the ideals and values of the California State University,” CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White said. “They have demonstrated brilliance, tenacity and extraordinary resolve in overcoming many obstacles in the pursuit of their academic goals. It is inspiring to consider the collective future impact they will have on their families, communities and the state of California.”
The Trustees’ Award caps a recognition-filled period for Jaureguy, an Oceanside native who has battled anxiety, depression and ADHD throughout his life. He was one of 20 students named to the Phi Theta Kappa All-USA Academic Team while at MiraCosta College in 2018, earned the Thomas M. Wahlund Memorial Scholarship last school year at CSUSM, and was awarded the Leonard and Jean Evers Scholarship for this year.
He’s also a MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) Scholar, a program through the Office for Training, Research and Education in the Sciences (OTRES) that helps prepare qualified undergraduate minority science students to enter and succeed in doctoral studies.
This past summer, Jaureguy participated in the Summer Training Academy for Research Success (STARS) at UC San Diego, an intensive eight-week internship modeled on graduate school life. It included six-to-eight hours of faculty-led research per day, and he studied machine learning with applications in bioinformatics.
While at MiraCosta College in 2015, Jaureguy was accepted into the Bridges to the Future Program, a partnership among CSUSM, MiraCosta and Palomar College to prepare under-represented students at community colleges for a seamless transition to four-year universities. He studied in the terrestrial ecosystems lab of CSUSM biology professor George Vourlitis for more than three years, completing research on various ecological projects focused on nitrogen and ammonium deposition.
Jaureguy also has volunteered for a nonprofit teaching English to Tibetan refugees and at a veterinary clinic, both in India. After he graduates next spring, he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in bio-informatics and computational biology.
“Winning the Trustees’ Award means a lot,” Jaureguy said. “It definitely shows that I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work and that it’s paying off.”
More than 360 students have been honored with the Trustees’ Award since the scholarship program was established in 1984 by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. In 1999, the foundation partnered with the CSU Board of Trustees to supplement the endowment with contributions from CSU trustees, the CSU Foundation Board of Governors and private donors. Each student scholarship bears the name of a donor.
About California State University San Marcos
Building on an innovative 30-year history, California State University San Marcos is a forward-focused institution, dedicated to preparing future leaders, building great communities and solving critical issues. Located on a 306-acre hillside overlooking the City of San Marcos, it is the only public four-year comprehensive university serving North San Diego, Southwest Riverside and South Orange counties.
The university enrolls more than 16,000 students. With approximately 2,000 employees, the institution is a Great College to Work For® (The Chronicle of Higher Education). As a recipient of the annual HEED Award since 2014 — a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion — CSUSM is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment.
Trustees’ Award Winner Took Long, Winding Road to Success
