Reno Reporter

The Dean's Future Scholars (DFS) program at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) celebrated a couple of milestones this summer.

July 1 marked Mariluz Garcia's 10th anniversary of being executive director of the program, as well as Manuel Ortiz’s first year as assistant director; a recent UNR news release said.

“As a way to celebrate my ten-year anniversary, I wanted to replicate the generosity of those who came before me by creating my own scholarship endowment,” Garcia said in the release.

The Dean's Future Scholars program was created in 2000 by William Sparkman. He and Bob Edgington, who led the department from 2005 to 2012, both provided the program’s culture of funding yearly scholarships.

“Dr. Sparkman, Bob, and Mariluz have always believed in my potential…long before I was able to recognize it in myself,” Ortiz said in the release. “Now, it is my duty and privilege to carry their legacy forward by helping Dean’s Future Scholars students achieve their educational goals and improve the quality of life for their families.”

Donald Easton-Brooks, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, commented on the impact that both Garcia and Ortiz have had on the program.

“Mariluz Garcia has been a major part of the efforts of Dean’s Future Scholars over the past ten years,” he said in the release. “Her gentle spirit and desire to see students reach higher than they imagined have significantly impacted Reno and Nevada communities. 

“Manuel Ortiz, who started as a reluctant DFSer, has grown to be a teacher, a mentor, now the program director of Dean’s Future Scholars, has earned his master's, and is enrolled in a doctoral program here at the University. He is the right person to lead Dean’s Future Scholars as Dr. Garcia moves programming (Next Gen) across the state. His lived experience will continue to shape the young minds of Reno and Nevada.”