UC Santa Cruz Alumna and Astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan to Speak at UCSC Scholarship Benefit Dinner

A gala affair is planned for the UC Santa Cruz eighth-annual Scholarship Benefit Dinner with alumna Kathryn D. Sullivan scheduled as the keynote speaker.

Sullivan graduated from UCSC Cowell College in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree in Earth sciences. She went on to complete a doctorate in geology from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1978. That same year, she was selected by NASA for training and became an astronaut in 1979 and, in 1984, the first woman to walk in space.

In December 2010, President Obama nominated Sullivan as the assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction.

The emcee for the evening will be another UCSC alumna, Stephen Abreu, J.D.

Abreu graduated from Kresge College in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and in 2003 with a master's in molecular biology. Abreu, an intellectual-property attorney specializing in biotech and pharmaceutical transactions, works as an industry contracts manager for UC San Francisco’s Diabetes Center and Immune Tolerance Network.

An advocate for diversity in higher education and in the workplace, Abreu himself came to UCSC on a $10,000 scholarship.

Proceeds from the annual fundraiser comprise a large portion of the undergraduate scholarships and fellowships for students in need of financial aid who otherwise would not be able to attend the university.

With cuts in education only getting deeper and families struggling to pay for their children’s college education, UCSC hopes the fundraiser, with a theme of “Launching Bright Futures,” will be as successful, or even more so, as last year’s benefit dinner, which raised more than $190,000 for UCSC undergraduate scholarships.

The public is invited to attend the event, which will start with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. Cost is $200 per person.

To learn more about the fundraiser and to purchase tickets, visit the UCSC events website.