ORG CHART: Police Chief, Endowed Chair, More

In this week's Org Chart, we have news of UC Davis’ police chief, an endowed chair and more. Read on to find out the details.

Dateline UC Davis welcomes news of appointments of various kinds for faculty and staff, for publication in Org Chart (formerly titled Transitions). Send information to dateline@ucdavis.edu.

Police chief

UC Davis Police Chief Joe Farrow has announced his plans to retire. He will remain at his post with the university until a successor is hired.

“Joe joined UC Davis at an important time for the university and has made a lasting and positive impact on how the UC Davis Police Department approaches public safety,” said Clare Shinnerl, vice chancellor of UC Davis Finance, Operations and Administration. “We are grateful for his steady, expert and thoughtful leadership, and for his dedication to improving the safety of the UC Davis community in Davis and Sacramento.”

Farrow joined the UC Davis Police Department in 2017 and has worked in law enforcement for nearly five decades, starting as a police officer in the small California city of Pacific Grove and later serving for nearly a decade as commissioner of the California Highway Patrol. 

— Dateline Staff

Endowed Chair for Plant and Soil Nematodes

Professor Shahid Siddique has been named the Howard Ferris Endowed Chair in Ecology and Management of Plant and Soil Nematodes, a position that will help support his work studying the tiny organisms that can have a significant impact on crops and soil health.

Siddique has been a faculty member with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology since 2019. He earned his Ph.D. in agriculture and biotechnology from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria and spent nearly 10 years working at the University of Bonn in Germany, where he served as a research group leader in nematology. 

The newly established endowment is named in honor of Howard Ferris, a distinguished professor emeritus who spent 36 years as a UC Davis faculty member and became a leading researcher in nematode ecology. Ferris developed and maintains two major online databases used by nematologists around the world. In his new role, Siddique looks forward to continuing the work Ferris helped advance.

—  Tiffany Dobbyn

Director of Master’s Program in Medical Device Development

Aijun Wang has been appointed the program director of the Master of Engineering in Medical Device Development, or MDD, a nine-month graduate degree in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. In this role, Wang will help expand the program's connections with clinicians, industry partners and the university's entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Wang is a professor of biomedical engineering at UC Davis and a professor of surgery at the UC School of Medicine, making him well-positioned to serve as a liaison between clinical and engineering professionals. 

The MDD program integrates clinical needs finding and hands-on engineering design with coursework on regulatory strategy, intellectual property, business planning and commercialization. 

Read more on the College of Engineering website.

J.D. Wheat Veterinary Orthopedics Research Laboratory director

Heidi Reesink has been appointed as the Director of the J.D. Wheat Veterinary Orthopedics Research Laboratory, or VORL. VORL provides an environment for multidisciplinary studies pertaining to musculoskeletal disorders of animals.

Reesink will provide strategic leadership for the basic sciences and clinical research efforts of VORL as well as administrative oversight, in conjunction with staff personnel. She will build and maintain relationships with industry, nonprofit, academic, regulatory, and funding partners while working with development and communications teams to enhance philanthropic support, stakeholder engagement, and visibility of VORL and its initiatives and achievements. Reesink will also meet with new faculty interested in VORL activities.

Read more on the Weill School of Veterinary Medicine website.