Robert D. & Margaret A. Wark Memorial Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Ellie Taraska is a fourth year Economics and Statistics major. She is from Boston, Massachusetts but now considers Los Angeles her home. On campus, Ellie currently is a volunteer for UCLA’s Volunteer Income Tax Association and member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. Additionally, she works at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Business in the Marketing and Communications department as a marketing intern. Outside of her classes and extracurriculars, Ellie likes exploring Los Angeles, playing soccer, and spending time with her friends.

Future Plans: Ellie will be staying in Los Angeles after graduation and will be starting full time at Intrepid Investment Bankers as an Investment Banking Analyst. She is excited to bring what she has learned from the classroom and her extracurriculars to the team and continue to grow and learn as a UCLA graduate. Additionally, she is considering going back to school after a few years to pursue a Master’s in Business Administration or a Master’s in Data Science.

What does this scholarship mean to me? I truly cannot express how thankful I am to the Wark Family for making this scholarship possible. With all the struggles that have come these past two year during the COVID-19 pandemic, scholarships like the Robert D. & Margaret A. Wark Memorial Scholarship have become even more impactful. This scholarship will greatly impact not only my success at UCLA this year but also my success in the future. I am able to focus more on my extracurriculars, community service, and academics because of this scholarship. Being recognized by the Economics department for my academic achievements also means a great deal to me and motivates me to continue to work hard.

Robert D. And Margaret A. Wark Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Christine Tseng is a third-year Pure Mathematics and Economics double major. Having seen education rescue her immigrant parents from a life of poverty in the countryside of Taiwan, Christine grew up in awe of the unparalleled power of education and now strives for the highest academic excellence at UCLA. Though fascinated by both math and economics, Christine initially only planned to earn her math degree. However, engrossed with the elegant overlap and applications of math in economics, she has since also immersed herself in the Economics Department courses and enjoys every second of it. Despite early doubts from others, Christine has excelled as a woman in mathematics and economics, and she is particularly thankful for her parents’ unfaltering support of her seeking any education she loves.

Outside of school, Christine works to share this same support from her parents with her peers: as a member of the UCLA Learning Assistants Program, Christine strives to spread joy in learning as she works directly with students in math courses and also UCLA faculty who seek ways to make their STEM courses more inclusive to students of underrepresented backgrounds. She is also a member of the USAC Finance Committee and works to allocate funds to support the fantastic programs put on by student organizations. Having found so much opportunity at UCLA, Christine is incredibly proud of all of her academic and leadership accomplishments thus far.

Future Plans: Passionate about the role of mathematical modeling in economics, Christine Tseng intends to continue pursuing a future career in economic and financial modeling. After studying all Winter quarter on various mathematical models, Christine will launch an individual project on modeling financial market volatility in Spring quarter alongside a mentor graduate math student. In addition, this summer, she will join the UCLA Computational and Applied Math Research Experience for Undergraduates program to investigate applications of mathematical modeling to identifying quality claims for the California Innocence Project, an organization that works to free the wrongfully convicted from prison. Ultimately, Christine looks forward to continuing in her studies to receive her PhD, research in modeling, and someday come back to teach at UCLA.

What does the scholarship mean to me? I am beyond grateful to receive the Robert D. & Margaret A. Wark Memorial Scholarship Award. With COVID-19 having taken a financial toll on my family, I am deeply appreciative of the generous scholarship from Mr. Walter Wark. This support has allowed me to cut back work hours for my campus jobs and instead focus more on seeking and preparing for yet higher education, especially as I hope to earn my PhD. I am indebted to Mr. Wark’s generous commitment to education and academic excellence in the Economics Department; I cannot wait to return as a researcher and educator to support future generations of UCLA students too.

The Lawrence and Joan E. Anderson Fund Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Phibi Duong is a senior at UCLA studying Business Economics and Accounting. She especially enjoys learning about econometrics and applying the economic principles to real world problems through coding. She also works as a teaching assistant to her former accounting professors at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. She finds helping students learn rewarding. Phibi has served as a volunteer with VITA to give tax services to low-income and elderly members in her community. In her free time, she relaxes by playing with her dog, skateboarding, and reading.

Future Plans: After graduating UCLA, Phibi will begin working as a tax accountant with the public accounting firm HCVT. She plans to earn a CPA license, and then pursue a Master’s in Business Taxation degree. She hopes to continue improving her business skills and gaining accounting knowledge to provide the best service to others.

What does the scholarship mean to me? The Lawrence and Joan E. Anderson Fund Scholarship is helping support my academic goals at UCLA. I am given the chance to focus more on my studies. I am honored and grateful to be given this scholarship. With this financial support, I can better devote myself to pursuing my interests in economics and accounting both inside and outside the classroom. I feel lucky and blessed to have this opportunity through the kindness and generosity of the donor.

Robert D. & Margaret A. Wark Memorial Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Peonia Chan is a second year undergraduate at UCLA double majoring in Economics and Communications and double minoring in Asian Humanities and Entrepreneurship. Born and raised in Palos Verdes, CA, Peonia had always known she wanted to establish a career in California – leading her to choose an education at UCLA. She currently serves as the Co-Director of Marketing for the Bruin Real Estate Association, the largest commercial real estate organization on campus, and served as the Financial and Administrative Director of the Hong Kong Student Society as well as the Historian for Delta Sigma Pi. In the past, Peonia has held internships at companies such as RE/MAX and Central Escrow Group. In addition, she currently works three internships – UCLA Luskin Conference Center & Hotel, PMI Properties, and Project Destined. During her free time, one can find Peonia playing competitive volleyball, discovering new local eateries, or searching for her next read of the month.

Future Plans: Peonia plans on entering the commercial real estate or private equity industry upon graduation. At Coretrust Capital LLC, she will be interning as an Acquisition and Asset Management Analyst this upcoming summer in their Downtown Los Angeles office as she hopes to gain valuable hands-on experience in the Southern California market from a vertically scaled company. Meanwhile, she is also fortunate enough to have the opportunity of participating in an ongoing Mentorship Program with Jones Lang LaSalle, hoping to expand her experience with their San Francisco and Century City Capital Markets offices in the future, alongside the AZ Summer Educate Program with Ackman Ziff’s office over in New York this upcoming summer. This has inspired her to potentially apply to MBA programs in order to truly hone in on her passion for the real estate industry.

What does the scholarship mean to me? I am extremely grateful and honored to be the recipient of the Robert D. & Margaret A. Wark Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship will assist in easing my financial worries and allow me to dedicate more of my time and energy towards my academics and extracurricular activities – essentially allowing me the opportunity to build the foundation of my professional career. This award has given me another reason to work harder towards my career goals as I wish to properly honor my donor and their recognition of both my educational and professional ambitions. This is such a pivotal moment during my lifetime so I truly hope that when I am an established professional within the industry, I can pay it forward by supporting others in their professional journeys just as these donors have done for me.

Professor Harry Simons Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship for the Study of Accounting Recipient

Biography: Jacquline Ruan is a third-year Business Economics major with a minor in Accounting and a concentration in Value Investing. She is a Peer Learning Facilitator (PLF) for MGMT 1B and was the Director of the Finance Committee in Bruin Women in Business for the 2020-2021 academic year. Jacquline is also in Alpha Phi Omega, UCLA’s co-ed community service fraternity, as well as UCLA UniCamp, the university’s official student charity. During her free time, Jacquline enjoys trying to cook authentic Chinese food in her apartment, watching horror movies (with friends), and playing spike ball with on campus.

Future Plans: Last summer, Jacquline had the opportunity to intern at SBJ, a private equity firm in the Bay Area, through the Small Business Investing Scholars Program. This summer, she will be interning as an Investment Analyst Intern at Angeles Investments in Santa Monica. Jacquline hopes to continue to explore different career paths in the finance industry through various internships in the buy-side before graduating and plans to pursue an MBA after gaining a few years of work experience.

What does the scholarship mean to me? I am extremely grateful and honored to have been awarded the Professor Harry Simons Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship for the Study of Accounting this academic year. The scholarship provides me the opportunity to focus more of my time on classes as well as on and off campus involvements as this award will alleviate some stress from worrying about finances. I am so thankful to both the donors of the scholarship as well as the department for giving me the support to continue to pursue my academic and career goals.