Awards & Laurels

The Academic Senate and the Academic Federation recently announced their annual awards given to members for exceptional research, teaching and mentoring, and public service.

UC Davis graduate and professional degree programs are recognized among the best in the country, according to the U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 edition of Best Graduate Schools. The updated rankings were released on Monday, March 28.

Professor Emeritus Kenneth C. Burtis, who served as the dean of the College of Biological Sciences (CBS) from 2006-2011, has been named the 2021-2022 UC Davis Distinguished Emeriti by the UC Davis Emeriti Association.

Burtis was recognized for his essential contributions to the Healthy Davis Together (HDT) program, including extending COVID-19 testing to the city of Davis and the broader Yolo County community.

Earlier this week, UC Davis named a new class of Chancellor’s Fellows — faculty members who will carry the chancellor’s imprimatur for five years in recognition of their outstanding work in academia.

“These 12 newest fellows represent our university at its very best,” Chancellor Gary S. May said. “They are now part of a proud 22-year history for the Chancellor’s Fellows program. These fellows are making advances that help solve complex and critical issues, while also helping our students become critical thinkers and problem-solvers.”

Nine faculty from UC Davis are among 564 newly elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, announced today (Jan. 26). AAAS fellows are scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for their achievements across disciplines ranging from research, teaching and technology, to administration in academia, industry and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.

Here are the new fellows from CBS, listed with their AAAS commendations:

In the second year of this program, Chancellor Gary S. May and academic leadership selected five fellows, four from the Academic Senate and one from the Academic Federation. Each fellow has received $5,000 in academic enrichment funds.

There are myriad ways to view the world. Some people view it through the lens of art, others through the lens of anthropology or psychology. But Connie Rojas views the world through the lens of biology.

“Everything around you—the tree outside, how tall it is, the bark—everything makes sense  when viewed through the lens of biology,” said Rojas, who was selected to join UC Davis this year as a 2021-2022 Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow. “That type of thinking was very intuitive for me growing up.” 

Five students from the College of Biological Sciences have been selected for a prestigious global fellowship program that focuses on social impact projects, an achievement that was first announced by UC Davis Global Affairs earlier this fall.

The Millennium Fellowship is a highly selective semester-long global leadership development program run by United Nations Academic Impact and the Millennium Campus Network. Fellows convene to learn from and challenge each other, both at their home campuses and with peers at other institutions.

Aldrin Gomes, a professor in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, is interested in how commonly used drugs like ibuprofen affect the heart. His lab has helped advance our understanding of how commonly used drugs damage our cells, and has recently been recognized for an exceptional commitment to safety.

University of California, Davis, evolutionary biologist Rachael Bay has been awarded a 2021 Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The fellowship offers Bay, assistant professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology, College of Biological Sciences, an opportunity to advance her work on the role of human action on evolutionary trajectories of species.