Colin Milburn First Recipient of Dean’s Award for Liberal Arts and Sciences
Colin Milburn, Gary Snyder Chair in Science and the Humanities, has been selected as the recipient of a new award from the College of Letters and Science that recognizes faculty whose research, teaching and service exemplify the transformational, intellectual and human value of the liberal arts and sciences.
The Dean’s Prize for Distinguished Contributions to the Liberal Arts and Sciences includes a privately funded award of $10,000.
“Professor Milburn embodies what makes the College of Letters and Science great: a fierce passion for the liberal arts and sciences, a true belief in the production and dissemination of original ideas, and a deep commitment to the public good,” said Ari Kelman, interim dean of the College of Letters and Science.
“I know of nobody on our campus who is more personally decent, more consistently kind and thoughtful. He is the very best of colleagues; a superstar who wears his success with remarkable grace.”
Milburn’s research focuses on the relationships between literature, science, and technology, and includes work in science fiction, the history of science, nanotechnology, video games and the digital humanities. He is both a professor and director of science and technology studies, and a professor in the departments of English and cinema and digital media. Milburn has been at UC Davis since 2005 and was appointed as the first Gary Snyder Chair in 2012.
His recent books include Respawn: Gamers, Hackers, and Technogenic Life and Mondo Nano: Fun and Games in the World of Digital Matter. His honors have included a Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellowship, the Science Fiction and Technoculture Studies Book Prize for Mondo Nano, and the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts Distinguished Scholar Award.
Milburn was selected by a faculty committee that stated in its award letter: “Professor Milburn, more than any of the other distinguished and deserving candidates, embodies the idea behind this prize. He is someone who has made enormous contributions to the liberal arts and sciences at UC Davis and nationally.”
Creation of the award, which is open to all tenured faculty members in the college, was announced last fall.
— Jeffrey Day, content strategist in the College of Letters and Science