Dr. Tonya Williams Bradford and Dr. Kevin Bradford, professors at University of California Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business, saw that there was a financial burden that comes with pursuing college education.
So the husband and wife duo decided to take real action to help lighten the load for students.
Such is their goal for the Bradford Fellows Fund, a new endowed scholarship for students in the Merage School’s Black Management Association (BMA) who are supporting UCI’s Black Thriving Initiative.
“We are strong believers in employing actions to support our beliefs,” said Kevin. “We are committed to the positive trajectory of the Merage School and UCI’s commitment to diversity and inclusion,” he added.
Kevin said that the couple recognized that there was an opportunity to support student success by alleviating some of the financial burden that come with pursuing higher education.
“And, we wanted to do something to tangibly address that challenge,” he added.
With the professors initially funding the endowment, the first Bradford Fellows Scholarship – a cash award – will be disbursed during the 2021-2022 academic year to a Merage School student.
