In 2020 the Rotary Club of Ventura- East started the “Dr. Bob Pazen Nursing Scholarship Awards”. The scholarships benefit nursing students in the Ventura College nursing program and other local nursing programs. The awards honor the late Bob Pazen, an optometrist and former president of the club.
The club began the program in 2020 by awarding a $1,000 scholarship to nursing student Erika Mendez. Since then, the club has awarded $49,000 scholarship awards to 49 nursing students.
On June 11, 2026, the club will be awarding an additional $23,000 in scholarship awards to 23 Ventura College nursing students. The nursing students and their families are invited to the club’s lunch meeting, introduced and the awards are presented at that meeting. Each of these nursing students has a personal story about aspiring to be a nurse. Often these stories are tied to the medical and health experiences of family and friends.
The scholarships help the students defray the cost of their nursing certification exam and other expenses. As noted by Dr. Sandra Melton, the Director of the Ventura College Nursing program, “Entering the nursing profession is truly life‑changing for our students, and the scholarships provided by the Rotary Club of Ventura East Foundation make that possible. By easing financial pressure, this support enables students to complete the rigorous nursing program on time”.
The Ventura College nursing program was recently ranked first in the state of California and in the United States for first-time pass rate on the national licensure exam with a recent 100% pass rate. The Rotary Club of Ventura-East is proud to support the Ventura College nursing program, and it is nursing students who will be serving our community, hospitals and medical field in the future.
