From History Major to Filmmaker

A love of stories led Christian “Joel” Lee (B.A. ’90) on a journey from undergraduate history major at UC Davis to a career as an actor and independent filmmaker in Singapore.

Aggies Give Back

Robert Woods ’76 and fellow members of the Cal Aggie African and African American Alumni Association (5A) are excited about further enriching the diverse UC Davis campus with a new scholarship to assist students of African descent. 

Graduates Designing for Sustainability

Old blue and gold banners around the UC Davis campus are getting new life thanks to Christina Johnson (B.A., design, ‘14) of Upcycle It Now. The company owned by Johnson and her mother Liz Bordessa recently started transforming the banners into bags and wallets.

“UC Davis reached out several years ago and kept reaching out to make it work,” said Johnson, who lives and works in Long Beach. “We’ve had lots of people getting excited about it and some sales are starting.”

2002 - Steven Farmer

Steven Farmer (B.S. '94, Ph.D. '02, chemistry) recently published his first book. Strange Chemistry: The Stories Your Chemistry Teacher Wouldn't Tell You (John Wiley & Sons, July 2017) focuses on the darker, wilder side of chemistry. The book covers broad subjects that touch on everyday life, including the chemistry of poisons, illicit drugs, explosives, foods, common household products, and radiation.

Music + Stats Add Up for Young Alumna

When Devon Bradshaw (B.A., music and statistics, ’17) was growing up in a one-bedroom apartment with a single mother in Hollywood, she spent over two years listening to her neighbor down the hall teaching the violin–and pleading with her mother for lessons.

American Studies Alumnus Leads Health and Safety for NFL

For some, nothing is more American than football. So it seems appropriate that Jacob Frank, who earned a degree in American Studies in 2011, works for the National Football League. After an internship and a seasonal job with NFL communications, he landed a job with the league’s new health and safety policy department in 2013 and now manages it.

Man of the Court: Darius Graham

Darius Graham ’17 may be a master of time management. From a young age, he’s balanced busy school and basketball schedules. Now as a senior point guard for the UC Davis men’s basketball team — for which road trips take him away from school Wednesday through Sunday — and sociology major who also factors in time for community outreach, he’s worked hard to maintain that delicate balance.

Music Man: Fawzi Haimor

Fawzi Haimor ’05, M.A. ’07, takes over as music director of Germany’s highly regarded Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen in September, but the 34-year-old conductor is already living the dream.