Claremont Graduate University

CGU is honored to recognize Vui Nguyen as one of two recipients of the 2026 Pamela M. Mullin Dream and Believe Award, presented at this year's commencement ceremony.

Nguyen grew up selling vegetables at a market in rural Vietnam before school each morning, driven by a single conviction: that education was her way out of poverty and her way toward changing the lives of women like her. She saw how hard it was for women in her community to provide for themselves and decided to build her life around changing that.

While working full time as a banking associate in Hanoi, she recognized that advancing her career required more than technical ability. So for eight years, she gave free tours to international visitors as an unconventional but effective way to build fluency and cultural awareness. That determination eventually brought her to CGU, where it only grew.

Now a PhD Candidate in Organizational Behavior, her research focuses on leadership, organizational culture, and employee well-being, with particular attention to women's empowerment. During her time at CGU, she was chosen to represent Vietnam at the Commission on the Status of Women conference at the United Nations in New York City, bringing her research to a global stage.

The Dream and Believe Award recognizes doctoral students whose lives and scholarship embody resilience, purpose, and transformative impact. Vui exemplifies all of these.

Read her full feature on the CGU blog:

https://www.cgu.edu/news/2026/06/from-vietnamese-markets-to-the-un-nguyens-dream-and-believe-journey/

Congratulations to Teresa Contino, this semester’s top performer in the Games and Interactive Technology Lab at CGU.

The lab is a space within the School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation where students take on real research partnerships at the intersection of UX, game design, and interactive technology. Teresa has been one of its most consistent contributors.

This semester she led a team on an onboarding and adoption research project with CircleUp, an edtech platform that integrates social-emotional learning into academic instruction, helping first-time users build a clear mental model of the app from day one. It’s her third time leading a project in the lab, and she brings the same care and rigor every time: organized, communicative, and deeply invested in her team’s growth alongside the work itself.

Teresa graduated this semester and is heading to Apple as a User Study Coordinator for the Beats team (via Sasken Technologies) ✨💼

The same technology often blamed for our loneliness crisis may also hold the key to addressing it.

CGU researchers at the Center for Information Systems and Technology (CISAT) are exploring how AI can detect early signs of social isolation, facilitate meaningful human connection, and provide compassionate support when it's needed most. Led by Dr. Samir Chatterjee, the ClareAI project is one thoughtful attempt to put these questions into practice.

The goal is not to replace human connection. It is to remove the barriers standing in the way of it.

Read the full story at the link below:
https://www.cgu.edu/news/2026/05/can-the-technology-that-isolates-us-reconnect-us/

Celebrate a champion of education and justice! Romarilyn Ralston ’14 has received a 2026 Dream & Believe Award from Claremont Graduate University (CGU).

Ralston is a Ph.D. Candidate in Executive Management at CGU’s Drucker School of Management.

Ralston graduated with a B.A. from Pitzer’s New Resource program for students 23 years of age or older. She currently serves as executive director of the UCLA Prison Education Program and Center for Justice.

Read more: https://ow.ly/Q9mY50Z6UKj

Our students don't just study the future. They present it to a room full of industry leaders.

This semester, CGU's Center for Information Systems & Technology (CISAT) hosted AI in Action: Immersive Industry Day 2026, bringing together students, executives, nonprofits, and startups for an afternoon of generative AI in practice.

Students shared their research alongside executives from Amazon Web Services, Intel, Activision, and more. Live demos, startup exhibits, and a panel on AI and the future of work made for an afternoon full of energy and possibility.

What made this event truly special was the collaboration across CGU. Voices and perspectives from CISAT, the Division of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences (DBOS), the Transdisciplinary Studies Program (TNDY), and Upsilon Pi Epsilon came together to make it all possible💡

Discover CGU this summer ☀️

Whether you're exploring programs, meeting our faculty, or hearing from current students, our events are your chance to experience what makes CGU unique.

Your graduate journey starts here. Register today: https://admissions.cgu.edu/portal/events?tab=Home

The tradwife trend has generated millions of followers, major sponsorship deals, and sustained media coverage. But CGU's Assistant Director for Global Mormon Studies, Caroline Kline, argues the conversation has often collapsed the category.

Kline, a research assistant professor in the CGU School of Arts & Humanities who teaches courses on gender and Mormonism, situates tradwife content within the economics of the attention industry while tracing its deeper roots in American religious and regional mythology. Her area of particular focus: why Latter-day Saint women have emerged as some of the tradwife space's most successful and visible figures.

Her Ask an Academic video is on the blog alongside the full story.

Read now: https://www.cgu.edu/news/2026/06/behind-the-bread-what-tradwives-are-actually-selling/

Discover CGU this summer ☀️

Whether you're exploring programs, meeting our faculty, or hearing from current students, our events are your chance to experience what makes CGU unique.��

Your graduate journey starts here. Register today: https://admissions.cgu.edu/portal/events?tab=Home

The excitement from Commencement is still very much alive over here. 🎓 The CGU Class of 2026 reminded us exactly why we do what we do — brilliant minds, bold futures, and a legacy of graduate education reimagined.

See all the photos here: https://cgu.photoshelter.com/galleries/C0000tesvhxr_o0Y/G0000Pjrub8rdfYg/CGU-Commencement-2026-Professional-Photos