OILS introduced two new scholarships this semester aimed to support current OILS students within the doctoral and master’s program to continue and complete their degree. OILS doctoral candidate, Nisansala Bandara, received $1,500 for academic support. Bandara is a first-year Ph.D. student whose research interests include Training & Development, Leadership, and Employee Engagement. The application and review process for the master’s program scholarship is currently taking place.
The scholarship was created by leading members of the UNM and Albuquerque community, Dr. Siu Wong, her spouse, Dr. William Jones, and sister, May Wong Arndt. Wong previously served as the President of the Chinese American Citizen’s Alliance (C.A.C.A.) Albuquerque Lodge and led the efforts for placing the plaque honoring Chinese American pioneers on the Imperial building in downtown Albuquerque.
In her career as an optometrist, she has served as the Director of the Division of Eye Care for the U.S. Public Health Service - Indian Health Service program in Albuquerque. William Jones, who is also an Optometrist, graduated from the UNM Biology department in 1969. He has worked with the Veterans Administration and founded the Optometric Retinal Society.
Both of them championed raising funds for a monument to commemorate a landmark Chinese American civil rights case, Territory of New Mexico v. Yee Shun Chinese (1882). The monument is located at the Bernalillo County Courthouse.
Both Wong and Jones continue to be avid donors at UNM and currently sponsor the Dr. William Jones and Dr. Siu Wong UNM Biology Department Urgent Needs Endowed Fund.
Photo Caption: Associate Professor Oleksandr Tkachenko, Nisansala Bandara, OILS Ph.D. student, and Associate Professor S. Pil Kang at the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) Conference.
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