Doctoral student honored with Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship
By Carol Jean Tomoguchi-Perez
May 25, 2023
May 25, 2023
Doctoral Student Raymond Villareal was honored with a Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship in March 2023. Through its program of fellowships, the Ford Foundation seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, maximizing the educational benefits of diversity, and increasing the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.
In addition to the fellowship award, new Ford Fellows are invited to attend the Conference of Ford Fellows, a unique national conference of a select group of high-achieving scholars committed to diversifying the professoriate and using diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students. "Being chosen for the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship is an incredible feeling that reinforced my desire to continue working hard in academia but helped me realize the strength of the community I have entered,” Villareal said. “Dr. Susanne Jaeggi and Dr. Gustavo Carlo both pushed me to improve myself while providing academic and personal support along the way, which truly helped me to get to where I am today.” |
Villareal credited additional support from his mentors: Michael Yassa, professor and associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion; and Dominico Tullo, Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé Postdoctoral fellow; with providing him the well-rounded experience and confidence he needed to apply. He plans to use the fellowship to investigate the impacts that traumatic experiences have on cognition, as well as individual differences associated with resilience and learning.
“My goal is to become a professor and provide the same mentorship that I have received to help the next generation of scientists blossom while also giving historically marginalized groups, like gang members and individuals leaving prison, the same opportunities I have to succeed in education,” Villareal said.
The Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs are administered by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
“My goal is to become a professor and provide the same mentorship that I have received to help the next generation of scientists blossom while also giving historically marginalized groups, like gang members and individuals leaving prison, the same opportunities I have to succeed in education,” Villareal said.
The Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs are administered by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.