Proposition 209 will continue to challenge the university’s efforts to be equitable and inclusive as it seeks to attract the best and brightest students from all backgrounds, while ensuring equal opportunity for all. Proposition 209 has forced California public institutions to try to address racial inequality without factoring in race, even where allowed by federal law. The diversity of our university and higher education institutions across California, should — and must — serve the rich diversity of our state. We will work to increase our investments and efforts in this area given that racial equity is paramount to fulfilling our mission to produce the intellectual capital of California that has economic and social benefits.

University of California, Davis, Political Science Ph.D. student Nahrain Rasho has been awarded a Peace Scholar Dissertation Fellowship from the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) for their outstanding dissertation on Conflict Analysis and Prevention.

On October 16, Chancellor May announced the cancellation of the in-person Fall 2020 Commencement ceremonies. “Under public health guidelines, it is just too large an event to be held safely,” said May. “We had been looking forward to this commencement, not only for our fall graduates, but for others who wished to return after missing their in-person commencements last spring.”

When 14-year-old Tiara Abraham first started classes at UC Davis this quarter, she already knew what to expect — her older brother has been enrolled there since he was 12. In fact, Tiara comes from an Aggie family: mom Taji earned her M.P.V.M. in 1997 and brother Tanishq ’18 graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering and is currently working toward his Ph.D. (Dad Bijou went to Cornell University, but he still wears his Aggie gear proudly.)

The recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Program Coordinator Award should have the characteristics of a true leader: Inspiring, impactful, committed to UC Davis. Graduate Studies received numerous nominations and all of the nominees have shown excellence in graduate student support and advising this year.  It is our great pleasure to announce and congratulate Angela Scully as the winner of the 2020 Outstanding Graduate Program Coordinator Award. 

All in a day’s work, Carlyn Peterson talks with fellow Ph.D.s, business people and producers in the dairy industry — and may even share a few affectionate words with cattle.

Last week, UC Davis Graduate Studies officially launched the online graduate application for the 2021-2022 academic year.

Each year, UC Davis welcomes applicants who are committed to making substantial contributions to their academic or professional fields through teaching, research or professional practice. Our students contribute to the global pool of future scholars and leaders, so high value is placed on achieving a diverse graduate student body to support the University of California’s academic excellence. 

Two alumni scholars who use digital media to help Indigenous communities recover their history and ancestral language have been selected by the American Council of Learned Societies as inaugural Emerging Voices Fellows.

Maria G. Gutierrez and Loren Michael Mortimer are among 45 early career scholars nationwide awarded the yearlong fellowship, launched this year by the ACLS “to assist a vanguard of scholars whose voices, perspectives, and broad visions will strengthen institutions of higher education and humanistic disciplines in the years to come.”