Mariel Vazquez, an internationally recognized applied mathematician who held a joint appointment as a professor in the Departments of Mathematics, and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics (MMG), passed away on July 5, 2026, at the age of 55. She is survived by her husband Javier Arsuaga, a professor of mathematics and molecular and cellular biology, and their children Eithne and Cedric Arsuaga-Vazquez, as well as her parents Maria Elena and Rolando Antonio Vazquez and a large extended family. 

Known across campus for her dedication as a teacher and mentor, Vazquez was a distinguished scholar with an international reputation for her research, which lay at the intersection of molecular biology, mathematics, and polymer physics and which applied topological tools to the study of DNA architecture. 

An International and Interdisciplinary Scholar

Born in Mexico in 1971, Vazquez earned her B.S. in mathematics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1995. She completed her Ph.D. in mathematics from Florida State University in 2000. After several years as a postdoctoral scholar at UC Berkeley and as a faculty member in the mathematics department at San Francisco State University, in 2014 she joined the faculty at UC Davis, where she became part of the first cohort of Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science (CAMPOS) scholars, a program funded by the National Science Foundation to broaden participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by women and people from a wide range of backgrounds at UC Davis.

Her joint appointment at UC Davis reflected the deeply interdisciplinary nature of her work. “Mariel Vazquez was a pioneer in applying techniques from topology, and in particular from the theory of knots, to understand the process by which proteins and DNA split and combine,” said Joel Hass, a professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics. 

She was deeply connected to mathematical institutes such as the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath, formerly MSRI) and the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM), where she helped organize research programs, contributed to institutional leadership and governance, and advanced efforts to make the mathematical sciences more inclusive. She also maintained a close relationship with the Centro de Investigación en Matemáticas (CIMAT) in Mexico.

Satoshi Namekawa, a professor and the chair of MMG, highlighted Vazquez's achievements as an interdisciplinary scholar. “Mariel was a truly interdisciplinary scientist whose work created a bridge between mathematics and molecular biology. She did not simply apply mathematics to biological questions; she brought the two fields together in a way that allowed ideas from each to shape the other,” said Namekawa. “Her loss will be deeply felt across both mathematics and MMG.”

Vazquez garnered numerous awards and honors, including a National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2011 and the 2012 Presidential Early Career Award (PECASE), the U.S. government’s highest honor for investigators in the early stages of their careers. She won the Blackwell-Tapia Prize in 2016 and was selected for the inaugural class of fellows of the Association for Women in Mathematics in 2018. In 2020, she was elected as a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, which cited both her interdisciplinary research and her service to underrepresented groups in the mathematics community. She became a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2023.

A Legacy of Inclusion and Mentorship

Vazquez’s interest in inclusivity in mathematics and science was deeply ingrained. Speaking in 2019 about her mentorship of Ph.D. students in the Topological Molecular Biology Lab, which she led jointly with Arsuaga, she said, “We try to bring together people who traditionally speak different languages, scientific or otherwise. The moment you have diversity in a group, there are better ideas.”

Her tenure as faculty director of CAMPOS from 2019 to 2023 offered a campuswide opportunity to put that principle into practice. “Mariel was a leader who believed in showcasing excellence,” said Renetta Tull, Vice Chancellor for Inclusive Excellence. “She put time and energy into planning for faculty to be mentored toward becoming distinguished fellows in their various academic societies. She also worked to eliminate barriers that prevented mothers from engaging in STEM research. She was an incredible scientist, and a mentor to many.”

Vazquez will be fondly remembered by students and colleagues alike, among them Pengyu (Peter) Liu, a former postdoctoral fellow in her group. “Mariel was an exceptional scientist and an extraordinary mentor,” said Liu, who is now an assistant professor in the Departments of Cell and Molecular Biology, and Mathematics and Applied Mathematical Sciences at the University of Rhode Island. “Her commitment to her trainees was unwavering, but what I remember most is the care she extended to me as a person. Her scientific legacy at UC Davis is significant, and her personal legacy in the trainees she shaped and the community she cultivated is profound and lasting.”

Namekawa echoed Liu’s sentiment: “Mariel Vazquez’s legacy will remain not only in her scientific contributions, but also in the many students, trainees, faculty members, and collaborators whose careers and lives she shaped.” 

Donations in memory of Vazquez may be made to the Mariel Vazquez Endowment for Undergraduate Research at https://give.ucdavis.edu/Go/Mariel. There will be a celebration of life at The International House of UC Davis on October 27th from 4-7 pm. The family asks that attendees refrain from wearing black and extends an invitation to everyone to come in their culturally significant dress of choice.