In this week’s Laurels column, Dateline has news of faculty members who have been elected to associations for their disciplines, an honor from the National Science Foundation and more.
Dateline UC Davis welcomes news of faculty and staff awards for publication in Laurels. Send information to dateline@ucdavis.edu.
American Law Institute
Professor Mary Ziegler has been elected to the American Law Institute, the nation’s premier nongovernmental law reform organization.
UC Davis Law now counts 21 current and nine emeriti faculty in the institute, which consists of judges, lawyers and law professors and caps membership at 3,000.
It has been a year of accolades for Ziegler, a Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law, Guggenheim Fellow and one of the world’s foremost experts on the law, history and politics of reproduction, health care and conservatism in the United States. In April, she received the second-ever award for Contributions to Public Policy from the Organization of American Historians. In July, Ziegler was named a UC Davis Chancellor’s Leadership Professor, a five-year appointment that includes $25,000 in research support funds per academic year.
American Geophysical Union
Dawn Sumner — a UC Davis geologist, planetary scientist and astrobiologist — is among the 53 scientists newly elected as fellows of the American Geophysical Union, or AGU, for outstanding achievements and contributions to earth and space science.
Sumner’s research combines insights from modern cyanobacterial communities in ice-covered Antarctic lakes with studies of early Earth and Mars to understand the coevolution of life and planets. She is particularly interested in the effects of oxygenic photosynthesis on microbial evolution, ecological changes, and Earth's surface chemistry.
AGU announced its 2026 class of fellows on Sept. 23.
— Greg Watry
NSF CAREER Award
Mingwei Zhang, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California, Davis, has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program, or CAREER, award to investigate local chemical ordering in complex concentrated alloys and how it controls mechanical properties.
One of the NSF’s most prestigious honors, the CAREER award supports early-career faculty who demonstrate strong potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and become leaders in advancing the mission of their department or organization.
Zhang’s research focuses on the atomic-scale mechanisms behind the mechanical properties of complex concentrated alloys, or CCAs. CCAs are materials composed of three or more elements at high concentrations and are promising for use in extreme environments.
— Jessica Heath
American Society for Cell Biology Fellow
The American Society for Cell Biology, or ASCB, has elected Dan Starr, professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, as a 2026 ASCB Fellow.
Starr is one of 15 scientists elected this year in recognition of exceptional contributions to cell biology and the society. ASCB Fellows are selected by their peers and approved by the ASCB Council, recognizing careers distinguished by scientific excellence, leadership and service to the cell biology community.
Starr studies how cells organize their internal structures, with a particular focus on how nuclei and other organelles move to and remain in the correct locations. These processes are fundamental to the development and function of tissues, and defects in nuclear positioning have been associated with developmental disorders and diseases including muscular dystrophy.
— Evan White
Onyx Award
Chancellor Gary S. May has been named a recipient of an Onyx Award from The Sacramento Observer. The newspaper described the honors as growing “out of a question The Observer has been asking its readers for more than six decades: Where does power actually live in Black Sacramento, and who is using it well?”
Larry Lee, president and publisher of The Observer, said the award was meant to honor the recipients.
“The Onyx Awards are about shining a light on people whose work is transforming this community, even when the mainstream never notices,” Lee was quoted as saying.
Northern California Emmy Award
A documentary about a kitten whose surgery could help advance treatment for babies with hydrocephalus earned a Northern California Emmy Award last month. This marks the third Emmy win since 2021 for the UC Davis Health video team.
The Emmy was awarded in the category of Health/Medical - News or Long Form Content for Saving Viggo: The Kitten Surgery That Could Help Babies with Hydrocephalus. It was presented at the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences San Francisco/Northern California Chapter awards gala in Sacramento. The winning team included:
- Christopher Nelson, senior video content producer
- Pamela Wu, director of news and media relations
- Kevin Ulrich, contributing photographer
SIGNAL AWARD FINALIST
“Just one spore,” an episode of the Unfold podcast produced by the Office of Strategic Communications, is a finalist in two listener’s choice categories for the Signal Awards: science and education; and health and wellness.
Media Resources
Cody Kitaura is the editor of Dateline UC Davis and can be reached by email or at 530-752-1932.