Riz A. Oades Scholarship
The Riz A. Oades Endowed Scholarship Fund was established in 2015 to honor the legacy and memory of Dr. Riz A. Oades, Founder and President of Kalusugan Community Services (KCS), a nonprofit community based organization dedicated to improving the health of Filipino Americans in San Diego, California. Dr. Oades was born in Lumban, Laguna as the eldest of eight children of Lorenzo and Beatriz Oades. He finished his high school at the Jose Abad Santos High School (Arellano University) in Pasay City, as salutatorian. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in History (magna cum laude) from Far Eastern University (FEU) of Manila; MA in Asian History from the University of Hong Kong; and Ph.D. in East and Southeast Asian History from the University of Hawaii. He also did a postgraduate study at New York’s Cornell University on a Fulbright/Smith-Mundt scholarship grants.
Work Experience: This includes statistician and head of FEU Training Hospital Medical Records Department; history lecturer at the FEU and University of Hawaii; coordinator of the U.S. Peace Corps Asian/American Studies Program, Hilo, Hawaii; and history professor at San Diego State University. At SDSU, he pioneered Asian Studies courses such as ”Contemporary Issues in Filipino American Communities”.
Publications: He published numerous books such as, The Social and Economic Background of Philippine Nationalism 1830-1892; Filipino Migration and Labor Movement in America; Defining Ourselves: Voices and Images of Second-generation Filipino Americans; Filipino Youth Gangs in San Diego; The Philippines: The Birth of a Nation; and Beyond the Mask: The Untold Stories of U.S.-Navy Filipinos. He was a regular columnist in the Asian Journal (i.e., Voices & Images and Growing Up in America) and Philippine Mabuhay News (i.e. “Portraits”) and periodically contributed feature articles to mainstream newspapers and magazines.
Textbook Reviewer, Commentator/Narrator: Dr. Oades served as a textbook reviewer for West Publishing Company; editorial consultant to SDSU’s Center for Asian Studies Asian-Pacific Horizons publication: and commentator or narrator in TV documentary films. The most notable of the latter were In No One’s Shadow: History of Filipino Migration to America, sponsored by KPBS and The Challenge of Diversity: Becoming American, sponsored jointly by SDSU College of Education and San Diego City College for the San Diego County Office of Education.
Community Service: He has actively participated in community-based organizations, such as Vice-President for 5 years of the Council of Philippine-American Organizations (COPAO). He served as an advisor and consultant to numerous student, professional and civic associations, and government boards or task forces. He hosted with Asian Journal, a monthly FilAm Forum at the KCS FilAm Wellness Center that he built and administered together with Dr. Ofelia Dirige in National City.
Advocacy: A well-respected educator and tenacious civic leader, Dr. Oades is an outspoken critic of Filipino-American politics and an advocate for much-needed community projects San Diego, addressing various issues as affirmative action, coalition building, political empowerment, youth gang violence, substance abuse, high-school dropout, inter-racial relationships, and the elderly. For over 30 years, Dr. Oades has been supportive of Filipino student and youth organizations, especially SDSU’s AB Samahan’s sports events, cultural nights, and annual high school conferences. Off-campus and through community-based organizations, he has pioneered Tagalog and Philippine history classes, and administered funded projects that address the social and mental health problems of Filipino youth and elderly.
Awards: Dr. Oades has been a recipient of numerous outstanding awards including, National Conference of Christians and Jews Awards in Journalism, two U.S. Congressional Awards for Outstanding Community Services, Asia Foundation Research grant, Association for Philippine Graduate Education Award for Meritorious Service, SDSU Affirmative Action Faculty Research Grants, Filipino-American Lawyers of San Diego Award, SDSU AB Samahan Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award, SDSU Mortar Board Chapter’s Outstanding Faculty Award, Scottish Rite of the Valley’s Outstanding Community Award, TOFA (Twenty Outstanding Filipinos in the U.S. and Canada) Award, and Asian Heritage’s Outstanding Community Service Award in 2005 & 2008.
The primary goal of the Riz A. Oades Endowed Scholarship is to provide funds to support students attending San Diego colleges and universities who exhibit similar scholarship and leadership traits and moral and ethical values. This is open to:
- Current San Diego County Filipino or Filipino American students who are currently attending a two-year community college or four-year university, or will attend a graduate school in San Diego.
- Plan to major in Social Sciences (with emphasis on Asian Studies).
- Have a minimum unweighted GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.
- Plan to participate in high school varsity and/or track in college.
- Have demonstrated leadership at school or in their community involvement.
- Have a demonstrated financial need.
This scholarship is renewable (depending on available funds) for up to two years of undergraduate coursework provided the recipient maintains full-time enrollment, a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 GPA scale, and good citizenship record. Scholarship applications are open and will close February 1, 2017.
Visit the San Diego Foundation and apply for the Dr. Riz A. Oades Scholarship!
Read more about the scholarship program here and apply at this link – http://app.smarterselect.com/matching/444/start_page
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