Caustics are patterns that emerge from the reflection of light rays from surfaces — such as the glitter of sunlight on wavelets in the UC Davis Arboretum. The mathematics that explains caustics is called contact geometry. That’s the speciality of Roger Casals Gutierrez, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics. Casals was recently awarded both a Sloan Research Fellowship and a NSF CAREER award to support his work.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter named historian Ari Kelman, an associate dean of the UC Davis College of Letters and Science, to serve as the college’s interim dean starting March 21, 2020. Kelman has agreed to serve until the campus identifies a permanent successor to Elizabeth Spiller, who steps down March 20 to become executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Four associate professors in the College of Letters and Science recently were named Chancellor’s Fellows for excellence in their research, creative work, teaching and service. The college's newest Chancellor's Fellows include an expert on immigrant family well-being, an artist/author, a political theorist and an archaeologist.
During his four decades as a lecturer at UC Davis and nearly 60 years as a community organizer, Isao Fujimoto has touched thousands of lives. Each one seems to remember him, and he remembers each one. Former students, colleagues and friends from near and far celebrated the life and work of Fujimoto, 86, a founder of the UC Davis Asian American studies program, at a recent symposium.
The first encyclopedia to merge global history and LGBTQ history into one resource, edited by UC Davis historian Howard Chiang, was named the best reference source of 2019. The landmark "Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) History" won the 2020 Dartmouth Medal, presented by the American Library Association.
Two faculty in the Department of Psychology — Professor Paul Hastings and Associate Professor Eliza Bliss-Moreau — have been named fellows of the Association for Psychological Science (APS). Hastings and Bliss-Moreau are among 51 psychologists in the newest class of APS fellows, selected for “sustained outstanding contributions to the science of psychology in the areas of research, teaching, service, and/or application.”
Sculptor Leonardo Drew, who has shown around the world and is included in many major museum collections, will give the sixth annual Betty Jean and Wayne Thiebaud Endowed Lecture on Feb. 6 at 4:30 p.m.
Ralph J. Hexter, provost and executive vice chancellor since 2011, and acting and then interim chancellor for 15 months in 2016–17, will leave his administrative post at the end of the 2019–20 academic year after almost 10 years in Mrak Hall.
A new movie about AIDS activist Hank Wilson by a UC Davis cinema and digital media professor will be shown on campus Jan. 15. “Thanks to Hank,” directed by Bob Ostertag, is a tribute to Wilson, who radically altered LGBTQ+ life and rights in the Bay Area. The film includes archival footage, animation and interviews with collaborators and friends of Wilson, who died in 2008.
Elizabeth Spiller, who as dean led the successful reorganization and financial restructuring of the UC Davis College of Letters and Science, has been tapped as the next executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Seeta Chaganti, a professor of English, recently received a prize from the Modern Language Association of America (MLS) for her book exploring the complex relationship between medieval dance and medieval poetry.
