Spotlight: Stacey Nicholas

Advocating for Education

UCI School of Education supporter Stacey Nicholas is widening the pathways to education access, including a recent gift to support environmental literacy.

Achampion of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) education, Stacey Nicholas has a personal mission: to help build a more equitable and just world with access to quality education and opportunities for youth to reach their full potential. And although she considers her role small in this effort, her service and support have provided an extensive impact in progressing education access and inclusion for underrepresented students from historically excluded populations.

At UCI, Nicholas has served as a UCI Foundation Trustee since 2015, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering Leadership Council and Diversity Advisory Board member and Claire Trevor Society Leadership Committee member, among others. She provides guidance, leadership and support for student and program success, research efforts, interdisciplinary collaborations and partnership outreach.

“I’ve always been interested in education, and it is so inspiring to be part of a university,” Nicholas says. “Equitable access to a quality education can be transformative, for both the individual and for our society as a whole.”

Magnifying environmental literacy

Most recently, Nicholas pledged $3 million to the UCI School of Education to advance the School’s environmental science education and education access efforts. The gift created a new endowment fund for the Stacey Nicholas Endowed Chair in Environmental Education to support the chairholder’s teaching, research and service activities.

It also provided seed funding to relaunch the Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Projects (ECCLPs), a unique network of University of California and California State University campuses dedicated to educating all students statewide about environmental and climate literacy by high school graduation.

“Everything starts with education. The next generation of kids coming up through our public school system is our greatest hope for creating positive change into the future. Students educated in the ECCLPs program will grow up being very aware of the environment, and will learn how to be good stewards of the planet for future generations,” Nicholas says.

Nicholas’ generous gift positions the School of Education as a leader in climate and environmental education. It also empowers students, teachers and community partners to be informed decision

and change makers in bending the curve of the climate crisis.

As an engineer acutely aware of the need for access and inclusion in education, particularly in STEM, Nicholas has focused much of her efforts on supporting students from historically underrepresented communities.

“Science and engineering can be very challenging. It’s critical to expose our young people to STEM at an early age, and provide a lot of support and encouragement. It’s also important for students to have role models and mentors who will make them feel that they belong in these fields, and that they can do this,” she says.

So when she learned from Richard Arum, UCI professor of education and sociology and former School of Education dean, about ECCLPs’ mission to provide all California students starting as early as prekindergarten with environmental and climate education, the initiative struck a chord.

“ECCLPs is not just a project UCI is doing; it involves other universities. It’s inclusive and casts a very wide net. This is something that I don’t think has ever been done on this scale,” Nicholas says.

A staunch UCI supporter

Nicholas’ longstanding UCI connection extends into the university’s School of Education, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Claire Trevor School of the Arts, along with many other areas. Her support of UCI was due in part, interestingly enough, to her alma mater, UCLA.

Shortly after Nicholas moved with her family to Orange County, one of her former UCLA professors took the job of dean of the UCI School of Engineering. He reached out and asked if she was interested in getting involved at UCI.

Having left the workforce to raise her children, Nicholas enthusiastically agreed to the opportunity to support future engineers and students. It would allow her to stay connected to engineering while staying close to home.

“It was just a great fit. It felt right. I was excited about it and was able to still spend time being a mom to my three young kids, but yet be involved in this amazing school,” Nicholas says.

Her children are all grown now, but she still maintains a busy schedule – dedicating two days each week to provide support and serve organizations and universities she’s associated with.

Among these roles, Nicholas is trustee emeritus at her children’s independent school, a trustee of the Rhode Island School of Design, a member of the Brown University Arts Advisory Council, and is active in the International Mountain Bike Association.

She is also on the advisory board of Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano (SJC), a role she has held since 2006. Breakthrough SJC provides academic support and guidance to local students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in higher education. Several years ago, she helped create a three-way partnership between Breakthrough SJC, UCI School of Education’s Orange County Educational Advancement Network (OCEAN) and nearby Marco Forster Middle School.

Though Nicholas’ service spans from the East to West Coast, her involvement at UCI is a distinct point of pride. During her years of support, she has witnessed the university’s evolution into a leading institution in research, education and public service. She hopes the recognition the university receives for its tremendous achievements continues to spread throughout Orange County.

She says: “There are amazing things happening at UCI, and I’ve seen the university lead the way in so many areas. I am particularly excited about UCI’s leadership role on the ECCLPs program. Its impact will be far-reaching. Our community should be so proud.”

ECCLPs is not just a project UCI is doing; it involves other universities. It’s inclusive and casts a very wide net. This is something that I don’t think has ever been done on this scale.