Meet the 20th Class of Chancellor’s Fellows

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12 mugshots
The 2019-20 Chancellor’s Fellows, from left: Top row — Christopher Barker, Eleonora Grandi, Jane Gu, Erin Hamilton, Maceo Montoya and Santiago Ramirez. Bottom row — Shalini Satkunanandan, Christopher Simmons, Anne Todgham, Aijun Wang, Megan Welsh and Nicolas Zwyns.

UC Davis has named its new class of Chancellor’s Fellows, marking the 20th anniversary of the program that provides philanthropic support to exceptional early career faculty members.

‘UNRESTRICTED THINKING’

The fellowships come with cash awards — $25,000 this year — for research or other scholarly work.

“It’s unrestricted, so it allows you to do research that you’ve been thinking about doing that you couldn’t get funding for,” said Aldrin Gomes, associate professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior, a 2017 Chancellor’s Fellow — and, who, like all Chancellor’s Fellows, keeps the title for five years.

“It allows you to be yourself and really incorporate undergrads and graduate students in a project, which allows them also to shine.”

Gomes is among Chancellor's Fellows from previous years who appear in a video celebrating the program’s 20th anniversary. See box for video link.

Here are our 2019-20 fellows, all of them associate professors, listed with their department or school in parentheses: Christopher Barker (veterinary medicine), Eleonora Grandi (medicine), Jane Gu (electrical and computer engineering), Erin Hamilton (sociology), Maceo Montoya (Chicana and Chicano studies), Santiago Ramirez (evolution and ecology), Shalini Satkunanandan (political science), Christopher Simmons (food science and technology), Anne Todgham (animal science), Aijun Wang (medicine), Megan Welsh (education) and Nicolas Zwyns (anthropology).

“When you look at our new fellows’ accomplishments to date, you can’t help but be impressed,” Chancellor Gary S. May said. “Their department chairs see it, their deans see it, their peers see it — and all of us know more great work lies ahead.”

Shaun Keister, vice chancellor of Development and Alumni Relations, joined the chancellor in also recognizing the donors who have funded two decades of cash awards to 154 Chancellor’s Fellows, through the UC Davis Annual Fund, Davis Chancellor’s Club and UC Davis Parents Fund. See all giving opportunities.

“We are thankful for support like this that allows us to be the top research university we are,” Keister said.

More about the 2019-20 Chancellor’s Fellows (click anywhere in each box, to see the fellow's lab or faculty page):

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