Karen Singmaster Helps Students RISE

 Karen Singmaster, the director of the RISE program since 2008 and the current department chair of chemistry. Photo by David Schmitz.

The Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement Program (RISE) program at San José State has generated some impressive statistics: from 2008-2024, 122 students who participated in RISE have received their BA or BS in a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) field — a 98% BS or BA completion rate. 27% of RISE scholars have a master’s degree, 16% have Ph.D.’s, and 21% are actively pursuing their Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D. 

The RISE program arose from a relatively simple goal: to increase the graduation rate of students from underrepresented populations in STEM fields and encourage them to continue onto graduate school and biomedical research careers. To that end, it provides students with financial aid and paid positions on campus in research labs. And by the above metrics, it’s been an unqualified success.

But those are just statistics: the real impact can only be measured in human progress, pride and collaboration. Karen Singmaster, Ph.D., the director of the RISE program since 2008 and the current department chair of chemistry, knows that better than anyone.

For the RISE students at SJSU, the experience can be transformative. “Having mentors on campus and finding community in their research labs, even aside from the scientific experience, really helps them see themselves in different places and just opens up possibilities,” Singmaster explains.

San José State University’s RISE program grew out of the Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) program, which has existed for decades with very similar goals. Singmaster herself was a MARC student as an undergraduate at the University of Puerto Rico, another of its many success stories. She went on to a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at UC Berkeley, as well as a postdoctoral fellowship at IBM and a tenure-track position at SJSU, where she’s worked for 37 years.

“[MARC] opened up some doors [for me],” she says, “and the fact that I was able to do that for other people, that I was able to give other people the opportunities and resources that they might have not had otherwise, is very satisfying. 

The legacy of RISE

Singmaster is on the cusp of retirement now, and RISE is shifting slightly into a new iteration: the U-RISE (undergraduate-RISE) program, which will be run by Cleber Ouverney, professor of biological sciences. But Singmaster will leave quite a legacy behind her.

“When you take a student whose parents didn’t graduate high school and he gets a master’s degree, that’s one generation that went a really long distance,” she says. “Hopefully for a subset of students, we provided opportunities to [pursue STEM] careers. [Hopefully we did] what I think San José State often does: help them reach a more economically, educationally, socially, secure position than where they started from.”

Singmaster ran the program from 2008-2024, dealing largely with big picture items: recruiting students, organizing staff, managing administrative work and overseeing  logistics. She credits the RISE program staff and faculty participants with a lot of the work: “It wasn’t just me. It was this whole unit,” she says, citing former MARC directors Cleber Ouverney and the late Herb Silber, professor emeritus of chemistry, among many others. But even from her bird’s eye view, she remembers a lot of the individual stories. 

She had one student in a chemistry class, for example, whose exam scores didn’t reflect his class performance. “When I had conversations with him, it became clear to me that his knowledge of chemistry was better than what he was showing in the exams,” she remembers. 

As it turned out the student was legally blind, and he couldn’t read the exam questions. She printed them in a larger font, and he started to excel. Then she invited him to come study in her lab and told him to “just play, go find something you want to do.” He decided he wanted to create a ferromagnetic liquid, and she gave him the instructions and materials. Eventually, he became a RISE student and then went on to finish his bachelor’s and a master’s in chemical engineering.

“I think I can remember almost every student,” Singmaster says. “All 122 of them.” 

And they certainly remember her.

“Karen changed my life and is an instrumental part of who I am today,” says Cardius Richardson, ’10 Biological Sciences. “I first met her after one of her Chem 1A lectures. I was retaking the course because I had failed that same course taught by another professor the previous semester. She explained everything so clearly, and I knew I felt comfortable enough to go to her office during office hours to ask questions. Her kindness drew me in, but her compassion when things didn’t go well, educationally and personally, allowed me to flourish as a student, and I am thankful.”

As Singmaster looks back at her time with RISE, her happiest memories are almost all student-focused. “Every student who came to tell me they got into a Ph.D. program was a happy moment,” she says. “Every student who’s had an ‘aha’ moment in class — that’s what I’m looking for.”

She’s won several awards over the years, including the 2008 SJSU Outstanding Professor Award, the 2020 SJSU Distinguished Service Award, and the 2024 College of Science Innovation for Student Success Award, but is modest about her own legacy. She plans to step down as chair of chemistry soon.

“Hopefully I’ve helped the [chemistry] department thrive,” she says. “Hopefully I’ll leave the place a little bit better.”

According to her RISE graduates, she already has. Monica Kapil, Ph.D., ’09 BS Mechanical Engineering, says, “I want to express my immense gratitude to Karen for her incredible work. She is a true champion of equity, diversity and inclusion, and has dedicated her career to helping countless students achieve success.”

As Richardson explains, Singmaster was “not only my professor — she also became a lifelong mentor.” 

And even amidst 16 years of RISE and all the other impressive statistics, that human connection may be the true mark of Singmaster’s legacy; she is definitively leaving SJSU “a little bit better” then she found it.

Learn more about RISE’s transition to the U-RISE program.

Student testimonials about RISE

“My experience in the RISE program was life-changing. It was the first time I conducted research, and this experience sparked my passion for it. The program offered me the flexibility to gain research experience on campus while taking courses, which was invaluable. It provided the foundation I needed to apply to and be accepted into a top Ph.D. program at UC Berkeley. Some memorable moments include traveling to top research conferences and presenting my work to leading researchers in my field. This experience has shaped my entire career, enabling me to earn my Ph.D. in bioengineering at UC Berkeley/UCSF. I currently work as a clinical research project manager at Apple.”

—Monica Kapil, Ph.D., ’09 Mechanical Engineering 

“My experience with the RISE program was amazing. It was a place that gave me a sense of community at a time when I was questioning if I was doing the right thing in college. It also allowed me to get to know the director of the RISE program (Karen) well and build a level of trust, knowing that she wanted the best for each of the students in the program.

“Due to my financial circumstances, I worked full-time during the first couple of years while enrolled as a full-time student. Participating in the RISE program meant that I could conduct research and spend more time studying, researching, and focusing on my grades while preparing for a future career in science. 

“My most memorable moment was attending my first Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Scientists (ABRCMS) meeting. I was thrilled that I was provided with an opportunity to travel to Orlando, Florida, and attend a conference at Disney World. Admittedly, that was initially the main reason I wanted to attend this conference. However, after being immersed in an atmosphere where students, professors and professional scientists all had diverse backgrounds but shared similar experiences, upbringings and passion for the things I was so excited about, I knew that I had found a community I could relate to. This was the first of many conferences where I would go on to present my research.

“My participation in RISE has shaped how I seek fulfillment in my current career. I seek out opportunities to provide mentorship and guidance to student interns interested in the sciences within our company. I especially enjoy working with students who have had similar life circumstances but work to overcome those to become the individuals they truly wish to be.”

—Cardius Richardson, ’10 Biological Sciences