Miles ’75 and Lucia Mikasa ’77/78 Expand Access and Connection for Future Mudders

Harvey Mudd College has received two generous commitments from Miles ’75 and Lucia Mikasa ’77/78 totaling $350,000.

One gift is designated for an endowed scholarship, helping make education more accessible, while the other helps launch The Connection Standard, a program designed to equip students with the essential soft skills needed to thrive in today’s workforce and to facilitate connection—a key to success—by helping first-year students develop a social support network before they even step on campus.

For Lucia, the timing felt meaningful. As she looked ahead to her 50th reunion year and Harvey Mudd’s 70th anniversary, she felt called to reconnect with the College that had helped shape her life and to consider how she and Miles could support future generations of Mudders.

Lucia and Miles shared a similar educational journey. Both discovered an early aptitude for science and math, and both were drawn to Harvey Mudd’s small-school environment. For Miles and Lucia, Mudd’s distinctive combination of rigorous STEM education and service to society continues to define what makes the College special. “I really like how Mudders are doing important things, but they don’t seem driven by only money and power. They also worry about, ‘How can I make a better contribution to society?’ That’s what makes me proud of this place,” Lucia said.

Liu Memorial Scholarship

The couple’s first gift establishes the Luke Liu and Ling Chen Liu Memorial Scholarship in honor of Lucia’s parents, who strongly advocated for her education. The scholarship will help make a Harvey Mudd education possible for students, with a preference for those pursuing engineering, reflecting Lucia and Miles’ own academic paths as engineering majors. “My father, Luke, came from a family of farmers that valued land, but my father loved and wanted to pursue study,” Lucia said. Because his family had not allocated funds for his schooling, her father took a risk, ran away from home and funded his own education to become a medical doctor. This profound investment in education influenced the rest of his life.

As was tradition for her family, Lucia’s parents set aside dowries to buy houses for her and her sisters. However, prioritizing education above all else, Luke and Ling told them that instead of a house, they would give them a future. They used the dowry funds to fuel their daughters’ education, allowing them to invest in themselves and eventually buy their own homes. “My parents were very focused on education, so I want to make sure we honored that. We were able to go to college without having to struggle,” Lucia said. It is this opportunity that she and Miles want to provide for current students.

The Connection Standard

Their commitment will support The Connection Standard through its first five years, helping the program take root. It provides students with tools for connection, resilience, leadership and collaboration so they can achieve their goals and increase their influence at Harvey Mudd and workplace.

Since its founding 70 years ago, Harvey Mudd College has operated on a revolutionary premise: that the world’s most complex challenges cannot be solved by technical expertise alone. The program, launching in fall 2026, will introduce first-year students to a practical framework for leading themselves and others through connection, equipping them with essential communication skills and emphasizing integrity, wellbeing and collaboration as foundations for innovation. Miles and Lucia believe it is vital to develop brilliant STEM leaders who can tap into interpersonal skills and organizational savviness to lead and also support one another. “I was pretty much a go-it-alone kind of guy in my first year,” Miles recalled. “I think if there is this bigger message of community, faculty, staff and fellow students, it lets you know that even though it’s going to be tough, we’re all here to make sure you succeed.”

I think if there is this bigger message of community, faculty, staff and fellow students, it lets you know that even though it’s going to be tough, we’re all here to make sure you succeed.

Lucia added that her own first year at Mudd was a transformative time. As one of only 12 women in a class of roughly 132 students, she found strength in their close, supportive bond. She hopes this program will help students build community while encouraging them to consider the nontechnical skills required to excel.

Miles likens the act of giving to the power of compounding. “You start early with interest, which then builds more interest, which builds more,” he said. “In the sense of contributing to Harvey Mudd, it’s about building scientists, engineers and leaders. That compounds over time. Over a short number of years, it may not be noticeable, but over decades, giving makes a huge difference.”