STEM

A gift from alumna Neda Nobari expanded the Presidential Scholars Program to specifically support STEM students’ part of the program. Pictured is the inaugural cohort.

SFSU alumna Neda Nobari’s gift expands Presidential Scholars Program to support first-gen STEM students, honoring Maryam Mirzakhani

SAN FRANCISCO – Sept. 22, 2025 – San Francisco State University (SFSU) has announced the start of a major expansion for the University’s Presidential Scholars Program (PSP), which supports first-generation, low-income students with high GPAs from the San Francisco Bay Area by covering the costs of tuition, housing, books and more for four years. This expansion creates a cohort of Maryam Mirzakhani Scholars named in honor of the late distinguished and internationally recognized mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, who was the first woman and first Iranian to earn the prestigious Fields Medal. Iranian American businesswoman, community leader, philanthropist and alumna Neda Nobari (B.S., ’84) gave a gift to PSP to specifically support STEM students and to honor Mirzakhani’s inspiring legacy. The inaugural cohort started this fall 2025 semester. 

“Neda’s enduring commitment to San Francisco State has had a profound impact on our campus,” SFSU President Lynn Mahoney said. “We are truly thankful for her generosity, which opens doors for countless students — particularly those overcoming financial challenges as they pursue brighter futures.”

Graduating from SFSU with a Computer Science degree, Nobari has a profound passion for helping STEM students like she once was. “My hope is that these scholarships will prioritize students pursuing careers in STEM, fields close to my heart as one of the few women in my computer science cohort over 40 years ago,” Nobari said. “My goal is that these scholarships can further diversify STEM fields, benefitting students who have tremendous ability to make a difference and to honor the legacy of Professor Mirzakhani’s extraordinary accomplishments.”

About Neda Nobari

As a proud SFSU alumna and lifelong advocate for education, Nobari has a deep connection with the University and has served many roles on the SFSU Foundation Board since its inception.

“Having served as an inaugural director, chair of its investment committee and board chair during its strategic planning process, I have developed a clear understanding of the University’s priorities and the growing challenges our students face. By repurposing my endowment, I am putting our students first,” Nobari said. “SFSU is very dear to me. I spent some of my most transformative years there, and because of its impact on my life, I want to continue giving back to the University and, most importantly, to the students.”

In 2020, Nobari was named the SFSU Alumna of the Year and was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame. She also established in 2022 the Azar Hatefi Graduate Student Fellowship in Iranian Diaspora Studies, honoring her late mother’s legacy. 

Additionally, Nobari was pivotal in founding the Student Sustainable Investment Fund to provide students hands-on experience in sustainable investing and funding scholarships for students participating in that program. This transformational investment in PSP is also the culmination of her long trajectory of consistently supporting student fellowships and scholarships at SFSU.

About Maryam Mirzakhani

Maryam Mirzakhani was the first woman to win the prestigious Fields Medal, the highest honor in mathematics, and the first Iranian to be so honored. Admired by her peers as a brilliant and fearless scientist who took on the most challenging questions, Mirzakhani’s legacy continues to inspire generations of young women in STEM to pursue their dreams. 

While attending an all-girls high school in Tehran, Mirzakhani earned gold medals in consecutive years as the first female to compete on Iran’s International Mathematical Olympiad team. Mirzakhani went on to earn her Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University and spent four years as an assistant professor and Clay Mathematics Institute Research Fellow at Princeton University. During that time, she was named one of Popular Science’s “Brilliant 10” extraordinary scientists.

Mirzakhani served as a professor of mathematics at Stanford University from 2009 until her death in 2017 at the age of 40. In 2018, the International Mathematical Union, in collaboration with the Women’s Committee of the Iranian Mathematical Society, established Mirzakhani’s birthday, May 12, as International Women in Mathematics Day to celebrate her inspirational life and legacy. 

About the Presidential Scholars Program

PSP, supported by the Division of Student Life, promotes exceptional learning and adheres to the highest standards of academic quality in the spirit of inclusive excellence. Each year, scholarships are awarded based on academic merit to an entering freshman cohort. The program not only provides financial support but also fosters a sense of community among the scholars through various events and cohort-building activities. 

Founded in 1995, the program currently serves about 20 students per year, with about four to five students in each class at any given time. With the additional funds from Nobari, the program will serve 30 more students.

Learn more about the Presidential Scholars Program.

SF State is the most represented university in the 2022 cohort of the Latinos in Technology Scholarship program

“I was the first in my family to ever go to a four-year [college]. As a Latina, I’m very proud of myself,” said San Francisco State University student Carmen Vargas Velazquez. As the youngest in her large Hispanic family — around 25 aunts and uncles — she says her drive in science stems from her experiences with her family.

Vargas and 10 other San Francisco State students are among the 52 recipients of the 2022 Latinos in Technology Scholarship (LITSI) from the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley (HFSV). With 11 awardees, SF State is the most represented university in this year’s cohort and ranks third in scholarships received between 2016 and 2021.

The program provides Latinx STEM students with up to $10,000 in annual financial support for up to three years plus professional development and internship opportunities. This year’s SF State recipients are in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science and Engineering.

“Honestly, I just think [LITSI] has made my college experience so far a lot easier, and it just doesn’t feel so difficult trying to find space [in the field],” said Vargas, a third-year in Cell & Molecular Biology who is only a few months into the program. She says HFSV’s network already helped her navigate professional development, interviews and networking. The confidence she’s gained even led her to earn a coffee date with SF State President Lynn Mahoney.

“I had to remind myself that I am a first-gen student and I kind of have to pave the way for myself,” said Vargas about her college experience which started during the pandemic.

Everything from applying for and starting college to moving away from home has been intimidating. She explains that she didn’t have guidance on early college prep while in high school. Plus she grew up hearing negative stereotypes about Latinas and discouraging statistics about women in STEM.

But Vargas wanted to study biology and is particularly interested in studying reproductive medicine and women’s health. Some of her motivation grew from her childhood experiences being a translator between her mom and doctors.

Meeting people via LITSI and other University scholarships and mentorship programs (METRO, SEO, Latinas in STEM, AMWA) helped Vargas quell some of her imposter syndrome. Lessons she learned in the LITSI program helped her land her first research opportunity in Biology Professor Diana Chu’s lab studying sperm and embryos.

“That investment that [HFSV] made in me is not only playing out now through my investments in other young STEM professionals. But the work continues and is going to continue for generations to come,” said SF State and LITSI alumnus Joseph Hernandez (B.S./B.A., ’22). He recently started working for the Center for Reducing Health Disparities (CRHD) at the University of California Davis Health performing qualitative research and disseminating COVID information and resources to community-based organizations.

Vargas actually met Hernandez at an informational LITSI seminar and says his feedback was instrumental in her own application.

For Hernandez — an aspiring physician — it is all about community. He double-majored in Cell & Molecular Biology and Latina/Latino Studies at SF State. He hopes that bringing cultural context and empathy into health care will promote larger cultural shifts.

“Health comes in a myriad of forms,” he explained. “From my personal experience and from the mentors and teachers who I’ve learned from, I want to take those teachings and really transcend healing.”

Hernandez struggled in community college because he lacked the necessary resources. He came to SF State determined to change his trajectory. But he was hesitant to apply for LITSI because on paper, he fell just short of the eligibility requirements.

“I actually reached out and talked to [HFSV], and they said, ‘We’ll open it for you.’ I was able to explain my life, circumstances and everything,” he said. Not only has Hernandez successfully graduated, in 2022 he was the keynote speaker at the annual HFSV ball.

“I think what’s important is to explain your vision, because it’s not only about what you’ve lived but also the direction you want to take your experiences,” he concluded.

Learn more about the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley’s Latinos in Technology Scholarship application .