About / Jan 11 / Sugely Ubaldo Chaidez passes away

January 11, 2011
For immediate release

Sugely Ubaldo Chaidez of the Gevirtz School at UC Santa Barbara passes away

The Gevirtz School at UC Santa Barbara is saddened to announce the passing away of Sugely Ubaldo Chaidez, who just completed her Ph.D. in the Department of Education. She passed away of bacterial meningitis the morning of Wednesday January 5, 2011 in Dallas, Texas.

Chaidez came to UCSB in 2005 as a Ph.D. student in Cultural Perspectives and Comparative Education. Under the supervision of Dr. Richard Duran she examined the educational trajectory of Latina/o students and how they combat the obstacles they encounter in accessing higher education. She walked in the graduation ceremony of June 2010 and successfully defended and filed her dissertation in December 2010.

As the School mourns Chaidez’s passing, we also remember her for the significant contributions she made to the UCSB and Santa Barbara community. She was the program coordinator of the Parent-Children Computers Project, where she taught local Latina/o parents and their children how to use computers and develop publications. In addition, she was the site coordinator for the Santa Barbara Pathways Homework Club at Dos Pueblos High School. In the summers she dedicated her time to youth in the community as a resource specialist for the Youth Enrichment Adventure Program and as a creative wealth coach with the Santa Barbara Money Camp. She served as the director of Health and Advocacy Programs at Diabetes Resource Center in Carpinteria, in addition to her role as graduate student researcher for the Gevirtz Homework Research Project and Center and with Drs. Vishna Herrity and John Yun.

“Our community is still, I know, in shock over the loss of Sugely Chaidez Ubaldo,” says Dean Jane Close Conoley. “Her untimely death stuns and saddens us all and recalls the preciousness of every minute of life – especially a life lived with purpose and enriched by friendship and accomplishments for others. Our deepest sympathy goes to her family.”

A public memorial is being planned to take place at the Education Building in the near future.

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Sugely Ubaldo Chaidez of the Gevirtz School at UC Santa Barbara passes away