2026-27 President's Scholars

Alexis Yrigoyen

Hugh and Judy La Bounty President’s Scholar 2026-27

Major: Anthropology

College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences

Activities: McNair Scholar; ENGAGE Research Fellow; California Center for Ethics and Policy Student Fellow; Digital Humanities Consortium Student Fellow; President, Pi Gamma Mu Social Science Honor Society; Instructional Student Assistant; Administrative Assistant, ASI Scuba Dive Center; Adult Literacy Tutor, Chino Hills Library; Scuba Diving; Photography; Traveling

From an early age, Alexis Yrigoyen was captivated by the past, a curiosity that eventually grew into a passion for anthropology and archaeology. What started as an interest in dinosaurs expanded to ancient civilizations, shipwrecks, Pompeii, the Titanic and the human stories behind historical discoveries. She was drawn to the way anthropology combines science, culture, history and human behavior to understand how people lived, adapted and built communities. Alexis is a McNair Scholar, an ENGAGE Research Fellow, a California Center for Ethics and Policy Student Fellow and a Digital Humanities Consortium Student Fellow. She also serves as president of the Pi Gamma Mu Social Science Honor Society, works as an instructional student assistant and administrative assistant at the ASI Scuba Dive Center and volunteers as an adult literacy tutor at the Chino Hills Library. Alexis credits her parents and academic mentors with encouraging her curiosity and her empathetic, interdisciplinary approach to learning and research. Alexis hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in anthropology, conduct archaeological fieldwork, preserve cultural heritage and make research more accessible to the communities it represents.