Angelica Barriga BS’03, MBA’08 wanted to help others in need and to honor those who supported her as a college student by creating a new scholarship.
For Angelica Barriga BS’03, MBA’08, saying “thank you” was not enough to express her gratitude for the support she received as a college student at the Naveen Jindal School of Management.
To show her appreciation, Barriga has established the Angelica Barriga Scholarship to help others who need financial assistance and to honor those who supported her years earlier.
Full-time undergraduate Jindal School students at UT Dallas can apply online for the $1,000 scholarship, which will be available beginning in January for the spring semester. The recipient will be chosen from applicants for the JSOM Excellence Scholarship program.
Barriga, who balanced the responsibilities of course work and a full-time job, became the first in her family to get a college education.
She completed an undergraduate degree in business administration, and a few years later, earned an MBA, both from the Jindal School.
Along the way, she received scholarships and much encouragement from mentors, friends and employers.
“The collective support I received was instrumental in my success,” Barriga said. “I was extremely fortunate to receive scholarship support.”
Angelica Barriga Scholarship
Who's eligible: Full-time Jindal School undergraduates
Amount: $1,000
When: Starting spring 2015 semester
That support kept her financially afloat while she earned her degree. “That would have been impossible otherwise,” she said.
A decade after receiving her undergraduate degree, Barriga is vice president of sales operations and marketing at FleetPride, a nationwide supplier of heavy-duty truck and trailer parts. In this role, she has built the organization’s sales operations department from the ground up while also overseeing all marketing initiatives.
Previously, she served as director of the global business process management division at ADVA Optical Networking, a telecommunications vendor based in Germany.
Barriga said she uses the lessons learned from her University course work every day, another reason why she wanted to establish a scholarship supporting students in business education.
“My husband and I compared our lists of organizations we wanted to support, and I had one organization on my list — UT Dallas,” she said. “Supporting the Jindal School is the No. 1 priority for me because it means supporting someone’s education. Ultimately, it means supporting someone’s livelihood.”