International House Berkeley

International House Times 9 International House Times 9 Beginning in 1959, she impacted many students and peers through her role as a professor of economics at Mills College, Oakland, over a period of 33 years. Additionally, through her service on the I-House Board of Directors for 15 years, she was the first woman to serve on the I-House Finance Committee, and also served in the roles of chief financial officer and chair of the finance committee. Marion's concern for talented, but underserved students, resulted in co-founding an endowed fellowship for international students who otherwise couldn't pursue graduate work at Berkeley. Her passion and counsel was also illustrated by her service on the Financial Aid Committee of the I-House Board for many years. As an I-House resident, Marion met Jean Sullivan Dobrzensky, who was a senior I-House staff member from 1946–56 and later, an administrator in the office of the Chancellor of UC Berkeley. After their beloved Golden Age co-resident Rafael Rodriguez's early death in 1981, Marion and Jean decided to honor him and the special freindships of many Golden Age alumni, by initiating a campaign for an endowed room and board scholarship. In 1989, they reached out to over one hundred alumni and friends from the Golden Age to request contributions for this fund. In this way, the special cohort of Golden Agers, and their unique and gifted friend, "Rafe", an artist, botanist, and biologist, would create a poignant legacy. In 1990, in partnership with the UC Berkeley Graduate Division, the Rafael Rodriguez/Golden Age Fellowship (RRGA) was established to provide an annual room and board scholarship, paid tuition, and a modest stipend at I-House. To date, 35 RRGA Fellowships have been given to deserving first-year, international graduate students. is annual RRGA Fellowship became the model and inspiration for the annual Gateway Fellowships Program that followed beginning in 2004. rough individual donors who seek to help bring the best and the brightest Ph.D. students to I-House and UC Berkeley, and provide a smooth "gateway" to academia, the generous Gateway Fellowships Program continues to offer up to 11 fellowships annually. With Marion's generous financial support and leadership, her legacy lives on to inspire others who desire to help deserving students through support to the I-House Financial Aid Program, which provides scholarships to both U.S. and international student residents. In just the past eight years, 982 students have received full or partial room and board support totaling $4.8 million. For the current academic year, 50 U.S. residents and 84 international residents are the beneficiaries of full or partial room and board scholarship support. ese scholarships are a result of the generosity of many I-House alumni and friends. We are always delighted to hear from financial aid recipients who share stories of their achievements that were made possible by their time at I-House, and who wish to "pay it forward" in the future. I-House continues to benefit from the inspiration and generosity of Marion Ross and Golden Age alumni and friends. Deserving students who follow in her footsteps continue to embody the overarching mission of International House as they move on to serve as global leaders. n Marion Ross with fellowship recipient, Heyuan Liu and guest Amy Nunal at the 2018 Fellowship Dinner reviewing a 2018 publication of botanical drawings of orchids by Rafael Rodriguez

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