Dear UC Davis Community:
Winter semester is fast approaching midterm exams, and libraries, labs, and coffee shops are buzzing with students digging deeper into their courses. Researchers huddle in their offices and labs, methodically searching for the next breakthrough to advance their research.
I am inspired by this energy on campus, and as an engineer, I know that energy generation requires a catalyst to unlock potential. And there's no better catalyst than the faculty at UC Davis.
More than 50 UC Davis professors are affiliated with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and dozens more are members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). I am proud to be a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and AAAS. These appointments are among the most prestigious in academia and recognize outstanding and continuing achievements in research.
Faculty are community partners and engage in public service that has a positive impact. This includes our nationally acclaimed Healthy Davis Together initiative, veterinary care outreach programs, promoting equity in education for K-12 students, and improving the lives of people in our communities. Contains many projects to improve.
UC Davis would not be the world-class university it is today without the contributions of our professors and researchers. They are role models and mentors who lead students into challenging discussions and center them as leaders in their research.
Our faculty know that students learn best when they combine theory with practical application. Our students are not passive recipients of knowledge, but active partners in making meaning and deepening understanding.
More than half of our students conduct research or creative projects outside of the classroom, and 100% of our students aim to graduate with at least one experience.
Faculty are leaders and partners in research and teaching, and it is important to take this opportunity to recognize their impact on and off campus.
building a better world
Our research faculty work on research that reveals and shapes the world.
UC Davis was one of fewer than 20 public universities in the country to receive more than $1 billion in external research funding for the second year in a row. These awards foster research that advances human and animal health, uncovers the root causes of society's most vexing problems, and builds a more sustainable future.
While credit for this funding goes to many researchers across campus, crossing the $1 billion threshold is due to the creativity of faculty members whose projects engage students in problem-solving opportunities that teach them while they transform. and reflects innovation.
Our research faculty tackles the biggest questions and investigates the benefits of the smallest particles. Whether it's a team exploring the possibility of talking to humpback whales in the Arctic or researchers developing nanotechnology solutions to diagnose cancer in seconds, UC Davis faculty help us understand the world. Not only do we help, we work to make the world a better and fairer place to live.
Several recent examples highlight the transformative power of this research.
Kevin GeeA professor in the School of Education, he collaborated with two UC Davis Ph.D. Candidates are seeking to publish policy briefs that examine how the coronavirus pandemic has exposed and even deepened the inequalities at the heart of our education system. His research provides an important foundation for continued policy efforts to address the learning loss that has affected many students during the pandemic.
Diana Farmer The UC Davis Department of Surgery Chair is the first UC Davis School of Health faculty member to be appointed to a leadership role with the National Academy of Medicine. As one of the nation's leading researchers in fetal surgery, she led a team of bioengineers and surgeons in the world's first clinical trial in human patients to treat spina bifida in utero using stem cells. There is. This breakthrough promises to improve the lives of thousands of children each year.
Professor, Faculty of Law Eileen JoRecently named a Chancellor's Fellow, he conducts groundbreaking research on the challenges faced by public defenders: representing people at life's most difficult moments without sufficient resources. Her research addresses how the legal system can better support lawyers and support staff struggling with this important work, and analyzes international systems to encourage U.S. policymakers to better support the public defender system. We're going to let you know about making it fair.
Build the classroom of the future today
Our faculty understand that their role is to find the sweet spot between challenging students and providing support. They are guides and mentors who help Aggies unlock their potential as thinkers, entrepreneurs, and activists empowered to change the world for the better.
Professor Jay StachowiczThe recent recipient of the Undergraduate Teaching and Academic Achievement Award explained how professors keep their lessons meaningful to students: “You have to be a showman, a coach, and a cheerleader.”
Prioritizing instruction, curriculum development, and course innovation, our education professors provide students with a classroom experience that reflects both our changing world and our student body. They remind us to pay close attention to both how we teach and what we teach, and how students learn and how well they succeed.
Ali Mogimi Assistant professors who teach biological and agricultural engineering know their courses need to do more than provide the latest data, robotics, digital technology, and AI. His courses ask students to develop and analyze optimal growing conditions using tools such as controllable “smart pots.” This is the type of innovative thinking needed to solve the complex problems that must be overcome to feed the world sustainably.
julia chamberlainAn associate professor of education in the Department of Chemistry, she has taught general chemistry to more than 6,600 students at UC Davis since 2015. As she reflected on her own pedagogy, she asked two simple but powerful questions: “Why is it so hard to learn chemistry?'' “How can we make it easier?'' won her a $1 million grant.
thanks
Through research and teaching, UC Davis faculty unlock the potential of students and improve the world we share.
I would like to express my gratitude to the faculty members for their dedicated efforts. And I'd like to encourage everyone reading this, whether you're a current Aggie or an alum, to take a moment and thank the professors who have been catalysts in your life. Masu.
I'm sure they'll appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Gary S. May
prime minister
