In this Laurels column, find a roundup of several year-end awards presented in late 2025, as well as other honors presented by publications and discipline-specific organizations.

Dateline UC Davis welcomes news of faculty and staff awards for publication in Laurels. Send information to dateline@ucdavis.edu.

Nature’s 10

Tony Tyson, a distinguished research professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the chief scientist of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, was named to a list of “10 people who helped shape science in 2025” by the journal Nature.

The journal dubbed him a “telescope pioneer.”

“I’ve been fascinated, maybe even obsessed, with the notion of digging faint signals out of the noise and doing experiments that reveal the fundamental properties of nature,” Tyson said last year, just before the telescope produced its first images.

The Transmitter’s Rising Stars of Neuroscience 

Theanne Griffith, an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology and a CAMPOS scholar, has been named one of 25 rising stars in neuroscience by The Transmitter, a publication focused on neuroscience.

“Dr. Griffith’s unique ability to share her passion and her own journey provide trainees with an ability to see themselves in careers they have never imagined,” Melissa Bauman, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, told the outlet.

The Office of Inclusive Excellence said “her innovative approach, which integrates electrophysiology, behavior, and molecular profiling, has positioned her as a leader in the field.”

Materials Today Rising Star

Materials Today has honored Marina Radulaski, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, with a Rising Star Award for her outstanding research and promise for continued leadership in quantum materials and electronics.

The annual award celebrates early career researchers from around the world who have made a significant impact in their field. This year, the award spanned five different research areas: biomaterials, energy conversion and storage, materials data science and AI, sustainability and quantum materials and electronics. In total, just nine researchers received the 2025 Materials Today Rising Star Award.

Sacramento Business Journal's Sacramento Inno Awards

Chancellor Gary S. May has been named a winner of a Sacramento Inno Award by the Sacramento Business Journal, recognizing leadership in the local innovation economy.

The publication called May one of “the region's foremost leaders in what is referred to as ‘ecosystem’ for technology startups,” noting he is among the people “trying to maintain an environment in Sacramento where successful startups can grow.”

It cited Barry Broome, CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, who said the development of Aggie Square — one of May’s first major initiatives among his arrival at UC Davis in 2017 — as something that allows graduates of UC Davis in STEM fields “to work on cutting-edge research and technology in the Sacramento region.”

Poets&Quants Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership

H. Rao Unnava, dean of the Graduate School of Management, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in business education from the publication Poets&Quants. The outlet said when he steps down later this year, he will leave behind a major legacy.

“During his decade of leadership, Unnava has transformed UC Davis from a quietly ambitious regional school into a nationally distinctive player — a school that punches far above its weight in innovation, inclusion and impact,” Poets&Quants wrote.

Unnava received one of just six awards the publication handed out to wrap up 2025.

IEEE Fellow

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization, has elected Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Lifeng Lai to the level of fellow.

Fewer than 0.1% of IEEE members receive the honor each year, making it the organization’s most esteemed membership grade. It is reserved for elite innovators who have made extraordinary advancements in engineering, science and technology.

IEEE has recognized Lai for his contributions to secure and spectrally efficient wireless communications systems.

Society for Personality and Social Psychology Block Award

People’s personalities change over time, and those changes can impact every aspect of their lives, from success at work to relationships with family and friends. Richard Robins, Distinguished Professor of psychology at UC Davis, has studied these changes for his entire career.

The Society for Personality and Social Psychology, or SPSP, has honored Robins with the 2025 Block Award for research accomplishments across his career. SPSP is the world’s largest association of social and personality psychologists.

“This is a great honor for the work I’ve done examining how people develop and change across the lifespan and how that impacts various outcomes as they go through life,” Robins said.