On a crisp fall morning in 1925, a dozen graduate students in white button-down shirts with their slacks cuffed over worn brogans arrived at the University Farm in Davis. They were united by a shared ambition: to pursue advanced studies in agriculture at what was then the research extension of UC Berkeley.
It was a quiet beginning for graduate education in Davis — seeding what would grow into one of the top graduate education programs in the country.
The University of California Board of Regents today (Wednesday, July 16) appointed UC Davis graduate student Miguel Craven as the 2026-27 student regent. Craven will serve from July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026 as student regent-designate. He will have voting privileges when his one-year term as student regent begins on July 1, 2026.
Graduate Studies is pleased to announce and recognize the dedicated and talented individuals who have earned awards and recognition for their outstanding achievements in the 2024-25 academic year, as well as acknowledge incoming fellows.
The following graduate students and postdoctoral students are recognized for their exceptional contributions in research and teaching. The incoming cohorts for the President's Postdoctoral Fellowships / Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowships and Professors for the Future program are also listed.
Graduate Studies and Graduate Council are thrilled to honor two extraordinary faculty members with this year's Distinguished Graduate and Postdoctoral Mentorship Awards. These awards shine a light on the power of mentorship in shaping the academic and professional journeys of UC Davis graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.
Yara Khatib, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Pharmacology and Toxicology Graduate Group, won second place in the UC Grad Slam competition held on April 29 at the UC Student and Policy Center in Sacramento. This is the first year the University of California hosted its systemwide competition in the state’s capital after moving it from the LinkedIn Center in San Francisco. Khatib competed against nine other graduate students representing each of the other universities in the University of California system.
Alumna and communication researcher Laura Lindenfeld Ph.D. ’03 will return to UC Davis as the keynote speaker for the 2022 Graduate Studies Commencement on Thursday, June 9, at the University Credit Union Center.
Lindenfeld is the Dean of the School of Communication and Journalism and a professor of journalism at Stony Brook University, where she oversees a team of dedicated faculty and staff, including Pulitzer Prize winners, to educate and train the next generation of multimedia journalists and communication professionals.
Public Scholarship and Engagement is proud to announce the inaugural cohort of UC Davis graduate students who were accepted into the competitive Public Scholars for the Future fellowship.
Third-year Biological Systems Engineering Ph.D. student Alice Dien won first place at the UC Davis Grad Slam Semi-Final round on Wednesday, April 6, 2022. Her winning presentation “Cooling Down with the New Hot Air: The Future of Drying in Agriculture” earned her a $2,500 first prize.
Dien's award-winning presentation examined the role of drying in food processing and examined how to make drying systems cleaner and cheaper.
Supporting Graduate Student Success Through Mentorship
Having a strong mentor can be a life-changing experience. Positive mentor-mentee relationships have shown to increase academic persistence, productivity and satisfaction in graduate student mentees. Additionally, mentorship can help increase overall graduate student well-being. Students with mentors report feeling less imposter syndrome, anxiety, and depression.
Graduate Studies is excited to introduce the graduate community to Daisy Hernandez, the 2021-2022 Graduate Student Advisor to the Dean and Chancellor (GSADC). Hernandez is a fourth year Ph.D. Candidate in plant pathology and will serve as the primary student representative for graduate students at UC Davis, serving as a voice for graduate student concerns, needs and perspectives.
