Three professors from the University of California, Davis, have been elected as members of the National Academy of Sciences. They are among 120 new members and 23 international members announced by the academy May 2. Members are elected in recognition of their contributions to original research. Membership in the academy is considered one of the highest honors a scientist can achieve.

The final round of the UC Davis Grad Slam had a flurry of PowerPoint slides, a giant deck of cards and a stuffed monkey, but in the end the top prize went to someone talking about genetic “ghosts.”

The University of California, Davis, continues to be recognized for its leadership in the fields of veterinary science, and agriculture and forestry, among other fields, in the 2023 QS World University Rankings by Subject released March 22.

The Academic Senate and Academic Federation have made their selections for the campus’s most prestigious academic awards for 2023, honoring 17 members for exceptional research, teaching and mentoring, and public service. Brian Gaylord, a professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology, was recognized for supporting collaborative learning among his students.

Three UC Davis faculty members are among 125 recipients of this year’s Sloan Research Fellowships, prestigious awards given by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to early-career scientific researchers seen as emerging leaders in their fields.

The 2023 fellows, including UC Davis’ Kate L. Laskowski, Jesús M. Velázquez and Alexander S. Wein, “represent the most promising scientific researchers working today,” the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation said in announcing its selections Feb. 15.

Wilsaan Joiner, a professor in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, was among this year’s cohort of Chancellor’s Fellows.

“Our newest fellows represent the very best of UC Davis and I congratulate them,” Chancellor Gary S. May said in announcing the new fellows. “The knowledge, expertise and excellence these faculty demonstrate across a range of disciplines positively impacts our university’s mission of research, teaching and public service.”

Late last year, Justin Siegel, an associate professor at the UC Davis Genome Center, was named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors. The NAI announced the 2022 class of fellows on Dec. 8. 

Chemical engineer and microbiologist Priya Shah is unraveling the essential aspects of arboviruses - viruses transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks, or other arthropods - aiming to thwart this major source of emerging diseases by identifying novel therapeutic targets.

For her innovative research, she has been awarded $40,000 from a UC Davis endowment set up by anonymous donors. The awards, given annually since 2016, are designated for non-tenured ladder-track faculty.

A prestigious fellowship has found a new recipient in CBS Postdoctoral Researcher Marina LaForgia, who was one of 5 postdocs in the country named a 2022 L'Oréal USA for Women in Science Fellow in November.

In her teaching, LaForgia, who studies the ecology of seeds to understand the effects of climate change and invasive plants on native plants, focuses on the women who have helped advance the field of botany.

Donors unlocked a new level of charitable giving to the University of California, Davis, in the last fiscal year, pushing the total past the $300 million mark for the first time in the university’s history — and beating it by a wide margin.

Financials announced in September show the university raised $323 million in 2021-22, in 58,556 gifts and pledges from 32,434 donors.

This story has been adapted from recent news releases from the UC Davis Newsroom.  

Doing good and fostering social mobility helped put the University of California, Davis, in the No. 2 spot among public universities and 11th among all national universities in the Washington Monthly 2022 College Guide and Rankings released in August.

The University of California, Davis, reached a major milestone attracting $1.07 billion in external research funding in the fiscal year 2021-22, up $102.9 million from the previous record set last year. In doing so, UC Davis joins an exclusive group of fewer than 20 public universities in the nation surpassing $1 billion in research funding.

Distinguished Professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and a former chair of the Department of Entomology, was inducted as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) at a June ‘22 ceremony in Phoenix, Ariz.  

This year’s graduate student awards emphasize the importance - and success - of mentoring younger scientists, and demonstrate the UC Davis commitment to collaboration, support and partnership that define interdisciplinary science. Graduate student awards support travel, research and professional development opportunities, and are made possible by generous philanthropic contributions to the college.

The Dean’s Mentorship Award recognizes graduate students who have demonstrated excellence in the mentorship of undergraduate students.

Six top graduating seniors were honored for their achievements at a luncheon on Monday, June 6, 2022, in the Green Hall courtyard. College leadership, faculty, friends and family attended the celebration of the students’ individual and collective accomplishments. Each received awards that recognized their research, community service and academic achievements.