Alumnus Part of Nobel Peace Prize-Winning Organization

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.

Young Alumna Awarded Prestigious US State Department Fellowship

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.

Alumna Earns Prestigious Marshall Scholarship

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.

1981 - Bradford Kane

Political analyst Bradford Kane (B.A., international relations, ’81) wrote "Pitchfork Populism: Ten Political Forces That Shaped an Election and Continue to Change America" (Prometheus Books, October 2019). Since the book’s release, he has been interviewed on C-SPAN programs. Kane is the founding director of the Bipartisan Bridge, an initiative to advance cooperation across political parties.

Detoured Student Offers Inspiration to Fellow Grads

Ellen Caminiti had a speech impediment as a child, was painfully shy when she started at UC Davis, wandered in her studies and was dismissed for poor academic performance. But the 24-year-old will stand center stage to share her journey and message of encouragement with more than 800 fellow graduates and thousands of guests at the fall commencement at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Pavilion at the ARC.

Aggie Hero: Valencia Scott

The first days at UC Davis were full of self-doubt for Valencia Scott. As a transfer student from American River College in Sacramento, this double major in anthropology and international relations questioned if she truly belonged and if she could handle the rigors of university life. But after finding support networks on campus and joining advisory boards, Scott emerged as a role model for serving fellow students and the wider community.

When International Security Alliances Fail

Two political scientists at UC Davis have been awarded a $1.37 million, three-year grant from the Department of Defense’s Minerva Research Initiative to study how countries share the burdens of security alliances like NATO.

Scholarship Helped Alumna Take First Steps to Dream Career

Irene Ezran (B.A., international relations and Spanish, ’18) has had a lifelong fascination with international politics. With her sights set on a career as a foreign service officer, and with financial support from the Richard and Carolyn Palmer Scholarship, Ezran took her first summer internship at the United Nations.