Claudia Mullener, CAC Student Awarded Gold-Pearl Undergraduate Academic Scholarship
By Angela Askey, Executive Director Public Relations and Marketing
Central Arizona College student, Claudia Mullener has been selected as the 2023-2024 Gold-Pearl Undergraduate Scholarship recipient. She will receive $2,500 this fall and another $2,500 for spring semester.
Mullener moved to Arizona from Chile seven years ago, leaving her family and friends behind. She chose to register at CAC to challenge herself. As a mom and wife and maintaining a full-time job as an educator for special needs students, returning to being a student herself has not been easy. However, she has been able to prove that she can make her dreams come true by obtaining a 4.0 grade point average and becoming a member of the Phi-Theta Kappa Honor Society.
It is Mullener’s passion to help younger generations understand that learning new languages has multiple benefits. She plans to transfer to the University of Arizona to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. Her life goal is to earn a PhD in English or Spanish Literature.
In her free time, Mullener reads a lot and enjoys traveling with her husband James and 19-year-old son Vicente, who is also a student at the CAC Maricopa Campus.
Upon being notified of the scholarship award, Mullener stated, “I am beyond words for being selected as the winner of the 2023 Gold Pearl Undergraduate Award that is generously donated by Dorie S. Goldman and Ronald M. Pearlstein to whom I thank enormously. Their generous contribution is a huge help to continue my educational endeavors.”
The Gold-Pearl Undergraduate Academic Scholarship fund was established this past spring by Dorie S. Goldman and Ronald M. Pearlstein to support students who are members of underrepresented ethnic groups, first generation students or foster youth. Students must have declared a major in the Communications & English pathways or the Social and Behavioral/Sciences pathways.
Goldman was a professor at CAC from 2001-2012 and a division chair of the communications department for two years. During her tenure, she served as Honors Thesis Project advisor for a small number of students. Additionally, other service commitments at the college included serving on Faculty Senate, the Cultural Proficiency Taskforce, and Academic Review committees.