Alumni News

UC Davis College of Letters and Science alumnus Scott Lay, standing in front of the California flag inside a room

In Memoriam: Alumnus Scott Lay

  • by Kathleen Holder
  • September 24, 2021

Thousands of people kept up with California political news by reading The Nooner, a daily nonpartisan email newsletter produced by UC Davis alumnus Scott Lay. This week, readers learned from The Nooner that Lay had died at age 48.

Cover of book "A Grammar of Patwin" with photos of Northern California terrain and plants, set over a linguist's notes of Patwin words and English translations

‘A Monumental Step’ in Reclaiming a California Indigenous Language

  • by Kathleen Holder
  • June 18, 2021
For his graduate research comparing languages around the world, Lewis Lawyer couldn’t find a single published reference book on Patwin, an endangered language once spoken in hundreds of Northern California communities, including what is now Davis. So, on his way to completing his UC Davis doctorate, Lawyer wrote one. With the release of "A Grammar of Patwin," the findings of his dissertation are now available to scholars as well as to Patwin/Wintun people working to revitalize their ancestral language.
The Najafi family

Alumni Honor Father With Gift to Department of Chemistry

  • by Becky Oskin
  • May 24, 2021
When it came to commemorating their father’s life, two alumni and another sibling followed his lifelong example by giving back. Emery Pharma founder Ron Najafi (Ph.D., chemistry, ’89), ophthalmologist Kathryn (Katy) Najafi-Tagol (B.S., chemistry, ’90), both pictured above, and brother Alex established the Dr. Mohsen Najafi Pharmaceutical Chemistry Research Fund in the UC Davis Department of Chemistry.  
Food aid workers distributing packaged food

Alumnus Part of Nobel Peace Prize-Winning Organization

  • March 29, 2021
Humanitarian work has taken Jon Brause (B.A., international relations, ’83) all over the world — to North Korea, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Philippines and more. As director of the Washington Liaison Office at the United Nations World Food Programme, he is immersed in global crises the organization was created to address. That work was rewarded in December, when the WFP won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.
Bill and Dianne Hollingshead photo outdoors

‘Aggie for Life’ Bill Hollingshead Will Be Missed

  • by Jeffrey Day
  • March 10, 2021

A self-described “Aggie for life,” alumnus Bill Hollingshead (B.A., political science, ’60) died in early February. Hollingshead and his wife, Dianne, were longtime donors to UC Davis and devoted patrons of the Department of Music. He was well-known for his enthusiastic love of his alma mater. In 2012, he received the Aggie Service Award from the Cal Aggie Alumni Association, which honors alumni who demonstrate exemplary Aggie pride and commitment of time, energy, volunteerism and leadership to UC Davis.

Photo of UC Davis alumna standing near the Quad and wearing her graduationstole

Young Alumna Awarded Prestigious US State Department Fellowship

  • by Kathleen Holder
  • January 29, 2021

Recent graduate Nina Forest is unsure where in the world her UC Davis bachelor’s degree in international relations will take her. But after receiving a prestigious national scholarship, she knows how she’ll get to professional destinations around the globe — via a career in the U.S. Foreign Service.

Photo of UC Davis alumna Valencia Scott standing outside next to a large window.

Alumna Earns Prestigious Marshall Scholarship

  • December 09, 2020
A recent UC Davis College of Letters and Science graduate has been awarded a prestigious Marshall Scholarship, a decades-old British government program that pays for American students to pursue advanced degrees at British universities. Valencia Scott (B.A., anthropology and international relations, ’20) will pursue a doctorate in criminology at the University of Oxford, where she will focus her studies on the criminalization of Black immigrants. She is planning a career in international human rights law.
Side by side portrait photos of three Aggies elected in 2020 to public office in California

Three Newly Elected California Leaders Reflect College’s Civic Impact

  • by Kathleen Holder
  • December 03, 2020
A student and two alumni of the UC Davis College of Letters and Science assume new positions as elected public officials this month — science and technology studies major Hipolito Angel Cerros on the city council in the Tulare County community of Lindsay and political science graduates Alex Lee and David Cortese in the California Legislature.
Portrait photo of UC Davis alumnus and MacArthur fellow

Alumna Anthropologist and Media Scholar Receives MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant

  • by Kathleen Holder
  • October 08, 2020
UC Davis alumna Mary L. Gray, an anthropologist and media scholar who investigates how labor, identity and human rights are transformed by the digital economy, has been named a 2020 MacArthur Fellow. Gray (B.A., anthropology and Native American studies, ’92) is one of 21 fellows announced Oct. 6 by the MacArthur Foundation.
Photo of UC Davis alumnus Will Ellis with cityscape in background

After Beating Leukemia, Aggie Will Ellis Finds a Cause in Helping Cancer Patients

  • by Kathleen Holder
  • September 10, 2020
After two decades of volunteer work with cancer charities, Will Ellis (B.A., communication and Italian, ’04) wasn’t about to let the cascading crises of 2020 derail him. Despite pandemic restrictions on in-person events, Ellis raised more than $103,000 in 10 weeks for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) Greater Bay Area Chapter to win its “Man of the Year” title.
alumni award winners photos

Alumni and Friends Honored With UC Davis Alumni Awards

  • by Jeffrey Day
  • December 12, 2019
Three College of Letters and Science alumni and two supporters will receive UC Davis Alumni Awards. They are among eight alumni and friends being honored by the Cal Aggie Alumni Association (CAAA) for their contributions in many fields and to the university. The awards will be formally presented at the Alumni Awards Gala on Feb. 7, 2020.
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