CSU CHOOSES WINNERS OF TRUSTEES’ AWARD
Students from Cal State San Marcos and San Diego State University have been honored with the California State University 2020 Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement.
The award, given at each of the 23 CSU campuses, is in the form of a donor-funded scholarship from $6,000 to $15,000. It is the CSU system’s highest recognition of academic accomplishment.
At CSUSM, senior Kayla Nguyen, a biotechnology major, was named a Trustee Emerita Claudia H. Hampton Scholar. At SDSU, senior Deva Reign, a psychology major minoring in philosophy, was named a Trustee Emeritus Murray L. Galinson Scholar.
“These diverse and distinguished students wonderfully exemplify the CSU’s core values of academic achievement and service to the community,” said CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White in a statement.
Nguyen is a first-generation college student whose parents came here from Vietnam in the early 1980s. Her mother’s rheumatoid arthritis inspired Nguyen to major in biotechnology. She was awarded a grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to become a full-time intern in an academic lab at UC San Diego. She presented her research at an international conference in Australia in 2017, and continues her work at CSUSM through the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program.
After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience or immunology.
Homeless at 17, Deva Reign was a successful musician before joining the U.S. Navy. He was honorably discharged after a military career and is a disabled veteran. Interested in neuropsychology, he has held positions with SDSU’s Center for Behavioral Teratology and with the Maximizing Access to Research Careers initiative, where he is studying the effects of alcohol on the brain.
He plans to earn a doctorate in clinical neuropsychology, researching and working with ves and athletes with traumatic brain injuries.
laura.groch@sduniontribune.com