Aileen Shen

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2019 Gumbiner Savett Inc. Endowed Undergraduate Prize Recipient

Biography: Aileen Shen is a second-year student majoring in Business Economics with a minor in Accounting, intending to graduate in three years. She was born and raised in the Bay Area alongside her older sister, Heidi. At UCLA, Aileen holds leadership positions in Beta Alpha Psi and Net Impact. She attributes her sense of community at UCLA to the people she has met through her involvement in student organizations. Outside of school, Aileen enjoys showing her grandparents around LA as well as visiting her two bunnies at home.

Future: This upcoming summer, Aileen will be interning at Intel Corporation as a Financial Analyst and Accounting Intern in Santa Clara, CA. She is excited to continue to gain more professional experience working in the technology industry and she hopes to pursue a career in accounting or consulting. Furthermore, Aileen’s long term goal is to develop a program to help younger girls who are interested in business build their confidence and find their voice. Underlying her professional ambitions is her unwavering belief to use business as a vehicle for positive and meaningful change.

What does this scholarship mean to me? I am incredibly grateful to be honored as the recipient of the Gumbiner Savett Inc. Scholarship for the 2019-2020 academic year. I am humbled to receive this recognition for my hard work and I will use this scholarship to help my family and show appreciation to those who have always supported me. Once again, I would like to express my immense gratitude to the donors of the Gumbiner Savett Undergraduate Prize and the Economics Department.

James Owen Setiadi

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2019 Donald Edward Bragg & Diane Sims Bragg Scholarship Recipient

Biography: James Owen Setiadi is a senior with a Business Economics major and Accounting minor. He was born in Jakarta, Indonesia and raised in Northridge, California. At UCLA, he joined the Beta Alpha Psi Accounting Honors Society. For the 2018-2019 school year, he served as the honor society’s Vice President of External Relations. In Summer 2019, he worked as an audit intern for KPMG, a Big 4 accounting firm. Alongside accounting, James has an interest in community service and marine biology. He volunteered at the Aquarium of the Pacific where he logged 426 service hours over the past 7 years.

Future Plans: After graduating, James plans on becoming a Certified Public Accountant. He will start his CPA journey as an audit associate at KPMG. He is excited to work with clients from a diverse range of industries. Later, he plans on leading his own engagement team as an audit senior manager or partner.

What this scholarship means to me: I am extremely grateful to be a recipient of the Donald Edward Bragg & Diane Sims Bragg scholarship.  As I learned in my business classes, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” Covering my educational expenses will be a challenge that conflicts with my CPA journey. I face this challenge on my own since I am the first person in my family to graduate from a university in the United States. Therefore, this scholarship serves as a wonderful support system by allowing me to focus on enhancing my entrepreneurship skills and less on my financial burden. Thank you to the Bragg family for granting me this tremendous opportunity. I will not take this award for granted and work hard to give back to my community.

Ohnha Ro

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2019 Venu and Ana Kotamraju Endowed Scholarship Fund Recipient

Biography: Ohnha Ro is a sophomore double majoring in Economics and International Development Studies, passionate about investigating international power and wealth disparity in multiple layers. Since entering UCLA, she has received Spring into Research scholarship, and supported research for Professor Eric Min of political science department and Professor Melanie Wassermann of Anderson School of Management. While not engaged in research, Ohnha designs community development projects at UCLA Global Development Lab. Pulling from interdisciplinary and diverse approaches, Ohnha seeks to explore a comprehensive means to alleviate global inequalities.

Future Plans: As aspiring researcher, Ohnha aims to pursue advanced degree in economics after graduation, and eventually serve at international organizations as economic consultant. During her remaining years at UCLA, Ohnha hopes to conduct independent research, and travel and intern abroad to enhance cultural aptitude and practical analytic skills crucial to her long-term goal in economic development field.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am greatly honored to receive the Venu and Ana Kotamraju Scholarship for my research experiences. Research has been a fundamental part of my academic years and career goal, and I wish to give back the support from the Kotamraju family by actively pursuing research in international economics and seeking ways to benefit larger communities.

John Mubara

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2019 Harold R. Mortenson Scholarship Recipient

Biography: John Mubara is a third-year at UCLA with a major in business economics and a minor in accounting. He was born and raised in Northridge, California. After graduating from Granada Hills Charter High School as valedictorian, he began working as an accounting intern at California Accountants Group LLP where he was able to apply and implement his academic knowledge of both financial and intermediate accounting principles to the financial statements of various businesses across California. He displays his passion for finance through serving as the President of Infinite Finance, a UCLA student organization whose goal is to teach the power of investing and the importance of financial literacy to underprivileged high school students. Moreover, John serves as the basketball league commissioner for the Fairouzah American Association, a non-profit organization that unifies and supports the Syrian-American community. In his free time, John enjoys playing basketball, watching Lakers games, and spending time with his family.

Future Plans: John is pursuing a career in either economic consulting or healthcare administration where he will be able to apply his analytical mindset and academic knowledge to the real world. After receiving his bachelor’s degree and additional work experience, John plans to continue his education and pursue an MBA.

What does the scholarship mean to me? I would like to personally thank the Donors of the Harold R. Mortenson Scholarship for their generosity and I am very honored to be the recipient of the award. By awarding me this scholarship, they have lightened my financial burden which allows me to focus more on the most important aspect of my education, learning. I hope one day I will be able to help students achieve their goals just as the Donors of the Harold R. Mortenson Scholarship have helped me.

Ryan Zong Han Lee

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2019 Robert D. & Margaret A. Wark Memorial Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Ryan Lee is a third year student majoring in Economics. He grew up in Singapore and served two years in the military service before coming to UCLA. While attending UCLA, Ryan has held various leadership roles, including being involved in a premier finance club on campus, Bruin Value Investing. In addition, he has also completed several internships across investment banking and financial valuation services. In his free time, Ryan enjoys playing golf, traveling, and playing poker.

Future Plans: Having a strong interest in finance, Ryan Lee intends to pursue a career in investment banking after graduation. This summer, he will be joining PJT’s M&A group in their New York office. While he is unsure what he plans to do after investment banking, he is open to exploring all the different types of opportunities available.

What does this scholarship mean to me? I am beyond honored and grateful to receive the  Robert D. & Margaret A. Wark Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is significant as it helps to subsidize my education and living expenses, allowing me to better pursuit my interests outside of classes. I am incredibly humbled by this award, and I look forward to being in a position to help others in the future as well.

Christopher Doyle Lane

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2019 Lawrence and Joan E. Anderson Fund Recipient

Biography:  Chris Lane is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics with an Accounting minor and concentration in value investing. Determined to enhance the UCLA community, he serves as president of the UCLA Chess Club and co-president of the Undergraduate Investment Society. Outside of academics, he enjoys investing, chess, and visiting national parks.

Future plans:  Chris Lane will join KPMG’s economic valuation services as an intern this summer. Chris plans to pursue a career in valuation and pass all three chartered financial analyst tests. After working a few years in valuation, Chris Lane plans to apply the valuation skills he develops as an investment analyst at a hedge fund or mutual fund.

What does this scholarship mean to me?  I am honored to receive this scholarship. I would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Anderson for their generous support. This scholarship alleviates financial stress and enables me to focus more on my academic and professional goals like studying for the chartered financial analyst exams. Additionally, since this award acknowledges my extracurricular accomplishments, it serves as a reminder that I improve the UCLA community through my involvement in clubs and motivates me to continue contributing to the UCLA community.

Peter Ju

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2019 Professor Harry Simons Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship for the Study of Accounting Recipient

Biography: Peter Ju is a third-year UCLA student pursuing his major in Business Economics and minor in Accounting. Born in New Jersey, Peter moved to Taiwan at the age of five and later moved to the Los Angeles area when he was eight-years-old. At UCLA, he found his economics and accounting classes very interesting, eventually deciding to major and minor in those areas. He wanted to use the knowledge he gained through those classes to make a difference in the community, so he joined VITA and helped low-income households file their tax returns. Besides having a part-time job on campus, Peter also held leadership positions with UCLA Club Golf and Beta Alpha Psi, as he continues to teach beginners the game of golf and to mentor new accounting students.

Future plans: Peter will be an Audit and Assurance intern at Deloitte this summer in the Los Angeles office. After graduation, he plans to become a Certified Public Accountant. He is considering a Master’s degree after gaining work experience for a few years. He hopes to serve as a mentor through UCLA’s alumni network to continue guiding new students.

What does this scholarship mean to me?: I am extremely honored and grateful to receive the Professor Harry Simons Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship for the Study of Accounting. I work on campus to try to pay for educational and living expenses, but this scholarship will help lessen the financial pressure and allow me to work fewer hours. I will have more time to focus on my academic interests and continue to make an impact in the organizations I’m a part of and in the local community. This scholarship award showed me the importance of giving back, and I will work even harder towards my goals and make a difference in my community.

Chen Jin

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2019 Patricia and Harry L. Bruce Endowed Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Chen Jin is currently a third-year student at UCLA double major in Business Economics and Statistics. She was born and grew up in Hangzhou, China, and later came to the United States to pursue higher education. At UCLA, Chen has had the opportunity to take a broad spectrum of challenging yet intriguing courses that match her interests in economics, finance, statistics, and computing. She has worked on a variety of data analysis projects both within and out of the curriculum, which includes designing monetization experiment to improve revenue level by around 5%. She has interned as a data analyst at Hikvison during summer. With proper handling of the collected government financial data using feature engineering and model building, Chen and her teammates were able to successfully evaluate regional risk levels and assist her manager in making financial leasing and investment decisions. In her free time, Chen enjoys traveling, dancing, and cooking, she has also competed in quite a few collegiate dancesport competitions.

Future Plans: With strong interest in quantitative analysis, Chen aspires to pursue a profession in business analytics. Equipped with solid statistical and computing skills, Chen strives to make the best use of data that serves to resolve problems arising in the business field. She always believes that the information revealed by data can contribute to the decision-making process and guide us to better reach our objectives. Upon graduation, Chen is also considering applying to graduate programs in data science to further improve her professional skills and explore more career opportunities.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am extremely honored to be selected as the recipient of the Patricia and Harry L. Bruce Endowed Scholarship. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Bruce Family in supporting my study with this fund. This scholarship will be of great help to me in paying my undergraduate educational expenses at UCLA and definitely makes me one step closer to reaching my academic and career goals. Most importantly, this scholarship recognizes all of my effort and achievements during college, and motivates me to maintain my diligence and keep on making progressive advance that surpasses my past accomplishments.

Seena Fakhimalizad

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2019 Robert D. & Margaret A. Wark Memorial Scholarship

Biography: Seena Fakhimalizad is a 3rd year student at UCLA majoring in Economics and minoring in Global Studies. He was born and raised in the beautiful state of Colorado and is Iranian-American. His passion for studying the field of economics stems from a highly personal lens: Iran, the country of his parents and his second home, has suffered staggering hyperinflation, a rapidly devaluing currency, and limited private sector growth for many years. Since coming to LA, Seena has greatly enjoyed exploring the immense cultural diversity the city has to offer, especially with the presence of a large Iranian community in the area. He serves as Vice President of Iranian Student Group, where he oversees the planning of various cultural, social, and educational events to unite the Iranian-American student community, acquires funding for these events, and manages the finances for the organization. In addition to this role, Seena is a Lead Resident Assistant in Cedar Residential Plaza and the Treasurer and Funding Director for Middle Eastern Student Association. Outside of his academic and work commitments, Seena enjoys exercising and exploring the outdoors, spending time with friends, and trying new cuisines in the highly multicultural L.A. food scene.

Future Plans: Due to his personal experience witnessing the burden of sanctions on Iranian citizens as well as his belief in the power of economic policy in enacting beneficial change for the lives of ordinary individuals, Seena seeks to pursue a career that is at the intersection of international law and economics. He believes that the formation of resilient economies and positive economic interactions between various nations based on diplomacy would also allow for the preservation of a more interconnected and peaceful world.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am sincerely grateful to have been selected as a recipient of the Robert D. and Margaret A. Wark Memorial Scholarship. As an out-of-state student who struggles to afford the costly tuition at UCLA, the Wark Family’s incredibly generous award gives me greater peace of mind to focus on my academics and strive to excel in my courses to the best of my ability. Without the selfless philanthropy of individuals like the Wark Family, countless students would lack the ability to pursue their passions and make a beneficial difference in the world. For this reason, I am beyond honored to receive this award, and I hope to utilize their investment in me to similarly aid marginalized groups in my career.

Muhammad Umar Dada

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2019 Professor Harry Simons Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship for the Study of Accounting Recipient

Biography:  Muhammad Umar Dada is a senior at UCLA pursuing a major in Business Economics as well as a minor in Accounting. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Umar moved to Los Angeles in 2017 to join the incredibly talented and diverse community at UCLA, from where he will be completing his undergraduate education in a period of three years. During his final year at UCLA, Umar is engaged in conducting research on topics on M&A and executive compensation for a faculty member at the Anderson School of Management.  Beyond school and work, Umar is passionate about cricket and enjoys taking road trips.

Future plans:  Umar completed an internship at Ernst & Young last summer and will be returning to the firm after graduation as part of its LA Transfer Pricing practice. Further down the line, he plans to obtain a CPA or CFA license and hopes to attend a leading business school for his MBA. Ultimately, Umar intends to leverage his skills and experience working at his family business based in Pakistan.

What does the scholarship mean to me?  To be selected as a recipient of the Professor Harry Simons Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship is a tremendous honor. I am sincerely grateful to the donors for their generosity in funding this scholarship and their commitment to the education of students like myself. This scholarship will help alleviate much of the considerable financial burden that comes with attending UCLA as an out-of-state student. I see this scholarship as a vote of confidence in my academic career and as motivation to continue striving for new heights.