Stella Ngai

Principal Counsel

Experience

Ms. Ngai has been at the university since 2006. She provides direct support to Chief Campus Counsel on a variety of legal matters.

Ms. Ngai was the Chief Campus Counsel of UC Merced from 2021 to 2024. In that role, she advised the Chancellor and senior leadership on a broad range of legal issues affecting faculty, students, and staff, including employment, business transactions, academic affairs, research, and student affairs.

Prior to her UC Merced appointment, she was with UC Legal - Office of General Counsel for 11 years. As Senior Counsel for OGC, Ms. Ngai served as the systemwide resource on public disclosure, privacy, ethics, and student-related areas.

Before joining the university, Ms. Ngai was an Assistant District Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco and a litigator with the law firm of Minami Tamaki.

Ms. Ngai’s civic work includes her service on California’s Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE). She was the 2021 JNE chair.

Education

Ms. Ngai is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley (B.A.) and Santa Clara University (J.D.).​

Bar Admissions

California