Published: August 19, 2025

State investment will expand the program, accelerating efforts to diversify the state’s faculty and STEM leadership pathways.

• $5 million in state funding for Cal-Bridge program with the mission of broadening  participation in California’s STEM and tech workforce
• Cal-Bridge creates a pathway for underrepresented students—from community college to  Ph.D.—to become leaders in academia and STEM industries
• With proven success and statewide impact, Cal-Bridge is poised to help California build a  more inclusive, innovative, and economically powerful tech sector

The 2025 California state budget includes $5 million in  support of the Cal-Bridge program, a transformative program reshaping the future of California’s  technology workforce by advancing diversity in STEM education and careers.

The funding will support undergraduate scholarships, doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships,  undergraduate research, scholar professional development, and program administration. This  investment reflects California’s commitment to building a more inclusive and representative  STEM workforce.

Alexander Rudolph, Executive Director of Cal-Bridge, emphasized the broader impact of the  initiative: “Cal-Bridge is a model of what is possible when we invest in talent that has long been  overlooked. This funding will allow us to expand opportunities for underrepresented students  across California and help ensure our STEM workforce reflects the diversity of our state.”

California’s tech sector is a cornerstone of its economy, generating over $526 billion annually  and employing more than 1.5 million people. Yet, the industry continues to underutilize its  human capital: only 15% of tech workers are Black or Latino, and just 26% are women. These  disparities are even more pronounced in leadership roles. 

“Science and technology are driving the California workforce but much of our state’s potential  talent is being left behind, with Black, Latino, and female workers being dramatically  underrepresented in these fields. The Cal-Bridge program is a proven way to bring diverse  perspectives into STEM fields, supporting students from undergrad through Ph.D. programs and  beyond,” said California Assemblymember Mia Bonta, who led the request for funding in the  State Assembly.

California State Senator Ben Allen, who also advocated for the program’s funding, noted, “At a  time when the federal government is slashing support for our top science and research  institutions, California—by providing an investment in the Cal-Bridge program—is stepping up  to continue prioritizing this work that provides such important advances in healthcare, energy,  and other innovative technologies.”

Cal-Bridge addresses these disparities by creating a comprehensive pathway for  underrepresented students from all three segments of California’s higher education system— California Community Colleges (CCC), California State Universities (CSU), and University of  California (UC) campuses—to earn STEM PhDs and enter the STEM workforce as faculty or  industry leaders.

“I’m proud to have secured $5 million in state funding for the Cal-Bridge program—an  investment in California’s first-generation college students who represent our future workforce  and innovation economy,” said Assemblymember David Alvarez who chairs the Assembly  Budget subcommittee on Education. “These students are advancing into careers as scientists,  engineers, and faculty members who will help lead the next generation of research, discovery,  and technological progress across our state.”

Over its 11-year history, Cal-Bridge has demonstrated remarkable success:

• 70% of Cal-Bridge scholars who apply to Ph.D. programs are accepted on their first  attempt—an unmatched statistic nationwide
• The first two alumni have begun tenure-track faculty positions at public California universities in the past few years
• Hundreds more in the program are progressing through the pathway toward advanced  degrees and into the tech workforce of California

At full scale, the Cal-Bridge Initiative could produce up to 2,000 PhDs in science and technology  over the next decade, significantly increasing the number of diverse STEM faculty and tech  professionals in California.

The program mission aligns closely with the Governor’s Master Plan for Career Education,  which calls for dismantling stereotypes and closing equity gaps in STEM fields. With this new  funding, Cal-Bridge is poised to accelerate its impact and help California lead the nation in  inclusive innovation.

To learn more about Cal-Bridge please visit calbridge.org.

About Cal-Bridge: The Cal-Bridge program has the mission to create a comprehensive, end-to-end pathway for undergraduates from the diverse student population of the CSU system through graduate school to a PhD, postdoctoral fellowship, and ultimately membership in the professoriate and science and technology workforce. Students in the program are referred to as Cal-Bridge scholars.

The program is a partnership between 9 University of California (UC), all 23 California State University (CSU), and the 116 community college campuses in California, thus fulfilling the promise of cross-segmental cooperation envisioned in the California Master Plan for Higher Education. Scholars are recruited from CSU and community college campuses across the state, with the help of local faculty and/or staff liaisons at each campus. Community college students transfer to a participating CSU to join the program.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Alexander L. Rudolph, PhD
Executive Director, Cal-Bridge
Adjunct Professor, Physics and Astronomy
School Of Physical Sciences, UC Irvine
execdir@calbridge.org

Published: May 2, 2023

Cal-Bridge Program Supports Women and People of Color to Diversify Public University Faculty and STEM Workforce

The Cal-Bridge program is pleased to announce that scholars Katy Rodriguez Wimberly and Manuel Paul have accepted tenure-track positions teaching at California state public universities starting in the Fall. This announcement helps to achieve the Cal-Bridge program’s mission to diversify California public universities and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) workforce.

Cal-Bridge, a one-of-a-kind higher education program, provides a pathway for students who are underrepresented in the STEM professoriate and workforce (including women and people of color) in the California State University (CSU) system to pursue advanced PhD degrees through the University of California (UC) system and join the California science and technology workforce, including as public university faculty. Launched in 2014, the statewide, intersegmental program has faculty from all three levels of the California higher education system supporting scholars from their CSU undergraduate studies through their UC PhD studies by providing funding for tuition and research projects, professional development, as well as guidance from mentors. 

Wimberly has accepted a tenure-track position at California State University, San Bernardino in the Department of Physics & Astronomy starting in the Fall, where she will teach classes in physics and astronomy and conduct astrophysics research with CSUSB undergraduates. An Army veteran, she attended California State University, Long Beach where she joined the Cal-Bridge program in 2015. Wimberly graduated with a B.S. degree in physics from Long Beach and went on to earn a PhD in astrophysics at UC Irvine in 2021. She received the prestigious NSF MPS-Ascend postdoctoral fellow in astrophysics at UC Riverside. As a professor at CSUSB, Wimberly will remain part of the Cal-Bridge program as a faculty mentor to physics students at the university, thereby inspiring the next generation to follow in her footsteps. She will also become director of the statewide mentorship program of Cal-Bridge, joining the leadership of the program.

“The network of mentors and peers Cal-Bridge has helped me create has been invaluable in my successful astrophysics PhD program. I now have an incredible support system of similarly underrepresented astro grad students and mentors who actively work to build a more inclusive community.”

Manuel Pasqual Paul is another Cal-Bridge success story. Originally from San Bernardino County, Paul went to California State University, San Bernardino for his undergraduate program and majored in Applied Physics. He went on to University of California, Irvine for his PhD, where he was awarded an NSF GRFP fellowship in his first year. Paul accepted a tenure track faculty position at Cosumnes River College, a community college in Sacramento, CA, where he will be teaching physics and astronomy courses starting in August. Paul will also continue with Cal-Bridge, recruiting students at his new campus to apply to the program as they transfer to a CSU to complete their four-year BS degree. 

“The Cal-Bridge network has benefitted me tremendously by connecting me with an advisor who supported and encouraged me. I would have never applied to graduate school without that support,” Paul said. 

Alexander Rudolph, professor of physics and astronomy at Cal Poly Pomona founded Cal-Bridge and is the Executive Director of the expanding program.

“It has been an honor to work with Katy and Manuel and see their growth over the years. I know they will make a tremendous impact in their respective fields, as well as on the many women, people of color and first generation students who will see someone like them doing things they may never have dreamed possible,” said Rudolph. “This program is critical because more diverse faculty leads to a growth in gender, racial, and ethnic representation in the technology workforce more broadly by increasing the number of students from historically underrepresented groups completing degrees in STEM fields.”

Since 2014, the Cal-Bridge program has supported over 230 talented women, people of color and first generation college students. Currently, 75 Cal-Bridge scholars are in PhD programs with four others having received or about to receive PhD degrees, including Katy and Manuel. The program has received $13.9 million in funding from various sources including the State of California, the National Science Foundation. The most recent funding allocation of $5 million came from the State of California in 2022 and was secured by Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris of Irvine who was the chief sponsor of the effort to fund the program. 

“Breaking down barriers to entry into STEM fields for historically underrepresented groups and diversifying California’s public university professoriate will help California continue to thrive as a world-class hub for innovation,” she said.

For more information, visit www.calbridge.org.

About Cal-Bridge: The Cal-Bridge program has the mission to create a comprehensive, end-to-end pathway for undergraduates from the diverse student population of the CSU system through graduate school to a PhD, postdoctoral fellowship, and ultimately membership in the professoriate and science and technology workforce. Students in the program are referred to as Cal-Bridge scholars.

The program is a partnership between 9 University of California (UC), all 23 California State University (CSU), and the 116 community college campuses in California, thus fulfilling the promise of cross-segmental cooperation envisioned in the California Master Plan for Higher Education. Scholars are recruited from CSU and community college campuses across the state, with the help of local faculty and/or staff liaisons at each campus. Community college students transfer to a participating CSU to join the program.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Alexander L. Rudolph, PhD
Executive Director, Cal-Bridge
Adjunct Professor, Physics and Astronomy
School Of Physical Sciences, UC Irvine
execdir@calbridge.org