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.”
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.”
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.
All three of the Science, Engineering and Math winners at this year’s Norma J. Lang Prize for Undergraduate Information Research are College of Biological Sciences students. Barry Nguyen, a biochemistry and molecular biology major, won first-place, and the second- and third-place winners, Katherine Hand and La Rissa Vasquez respectively, are neurobiology, physiology and behavior majors.
The Academic Senate Committee on Public Service has recognized Novozymes Chair in Genomics Richard Michelmore, who is also the director of the Genome Center and distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, for his outstanding contributions and commitment to public service with the 2020-21 Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award.
As a Ph.D. student in the Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Graduate Group, Yulong Liu investigates the cellular mechanisms underlying female reproductive development in the lab of Associate Professor Bruce Draper. For his research, Liu was recently awarded the UC Davis Dissertation Year Fellowship.
