Gloria Maria Amador ’98

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As a scholar, scientist and role model, Gloria Amador embodies the UCLA slogan “where great futures begin.” She has displayed an enthusiastic commitment to academic excellence, community, leadership and scientific research. Indicative of her stellar scholastic record was her selection by Governor Wilson as one of the five outstanding California women excelling in science. She also was chosen as a member of the All-USA College Academic First Team, an honor bestowed to the nation’s top 20 college students. Recently, Amador was named a UCLA Distinguished Scholar, one of the highest honors conferred on undergraduates.

Amador’s career at UCLA has been exceptional. In fact, her list of awards is staggering. She has been a two-time winner of the Howard Hughes Honors Research Fellowship and five-time recipient of a National Science Foundation Grant. She also has been awarded a Dr. Ralph J. Bunche Educational enhancement Award for Scientific Research for the past three years. But what has been her greatest honor? “Conducting research for the past three years in the laboratory of V. Reggie Edgerton, professor physiological science,” she said.

Amador’s humanitarian performance shines in her commitment to community leadership. Amador has volunteered countless hours of service to the University as a member of the UCLA Alumni Scholar’s Club and as one of the UCLA Ambassadors. She also has helped develop a program in which seniors, through the CARE program, serve as mentors to freshmen.

As a mathematics major, Amador will graduate magna cum laude and with college honors. She will continue her education in pursuit of her Ph.D. and hopes to become an astronaut, conducting research in space. Personally, she desires to pave the way for those less fortunate. She is an outstanding student and researcher, as well as a mentor and tutor to numerous students. Gloria Amador is truly a “renaissance woman.”