Distinguished Professor Emeritus and world-renowned geologist Eldridge Moores died unexpectedly Sunday (Oct. 28) while on a geology field trip. He was 80. Moores began his career at UC Davis more than 52 years ago as a founding member of the Department of Geology (now known as Earth and Planetary Sciences) and the College of Letters and Science.

Six assistant professors in the College of Letters and Science have been named to UC Davis’ newest class of Hellman Fellows. They are among 11 UC Davis faculty who received a total of $244,000 in grants for research in a wide range of disciplines.

The American Ceramic Society has a new award to recognize innovative contributions to experimental thermodynamics of solids technical literature. The Navrotsky Award for Experimental Thermodynamics of Solids was established through a gift from Alexandra Navrotsky, Interdisciplinary Professor of Ceramic, Earth, and Environmental Materials Chemistry at UC Davis.

Tudor Dan Dimofte, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics in the UC Davis College of Letters and Science, has received a prestigious CAREER award from the National Science Foundation’s Computer and Information Science and Engineering directorate.

Richard Scalettar, distinguished professor of physics, is this year’s recipient of the Charles P. Nash Prize, recognizing faculty members who have taken on Nash’s mantle of promoting shared governance, and advocating for faculty interests and welfare.

Jaroslav Trnka, assistant professor in the Department of Physics, is one of two winners of the 2018 UC Davis Award for Innovation and Creative Vision for his revolutionary work in quantum physics.

The UC Davis Academic Senate recently recognized five faculty in the College of Letters and Science for their teaching, research and public service.

Katia Vega, assistant professor in the UC Davis College of Letters and Science’s Department of Design, is part a team that has won the SXSW Interactive Innovation Award in SciFi No Longer.