The Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics is delighted to announce the creation of the Peter Rushton and Jacqueline Ku Endowed Memorial Fund for Chinese Languages, thanks to support from Nicole Tsao and a generous gift from Philip Rushton. This new endowment has been created to support our Chinese section (students, faculty, and program more generally).
Nicole Tsao is the daughter of Jacqueline Ku and the step-daughter of Dr. Peter Rushton. Philip Rushton is Peter Rushton’s brother. Peter Rushton and Jacqueline Ku were active scholars, dedicated educators, and champions of students interested in Chinese language and culture. Dr. Rushton received his Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature from Stanford University prior to becoming a lecturer in Chinese language at UC Santa Cruz in 1984. He died unexpectedly at the age of 50 in 2000. Jacqueline Ku taught Chinese language at UC Santa Cruz from 1984 until her retirement in 2006, and passed away in 2020. Peter and “Jackie”, as she was known to many, were deeply committed to the study of Chinese language and culture, and shared their love and expertise with their students and colleagues at UC Santa Cruz.
The department is deeply grateful for the support that Peter Rushton and Jacqueline Ku’s families have shown in establishing this endowment, which will complement the Peter Rushton Endowed Memorial Fund, created in 2004 to support students in the Chinese section.
The Peter Rushton Endowed Memorial Fund at UC Santa Cruz supports an annual award to one full-time undergraduate student who shows academic excellence in Chinese Language. Eligible candidates must be in their junior year and working towards a bachelor's degree at UCSC, be in good academic standing, and show demonstrated excellence in Chinese Language and continued interest in studying Chinese as a graduate student.
