Tom Tomich, professor and director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute, has been appointed as a scientific adviser to the world’s preeminent agricultural research system, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, or CGIAR.

Tomich

CGIAR, a publicly funded research consortium, works in more than 100 developing countries to eliminate hunger and poverty, improve food and nutritional security, and sustainably manage natural resources.

Professor Tomich, who holds the W.K. Kellogg Endowed Chair in Sustainable Food Systems, is the only U.S.-based member of CGIAR’s seven-member Independent Science and Partnership Council, joining members from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Kenya and the United Kingdom. The council members represent disciplines in agriculture, environmental sciences, ecology and economics.

Tomich received a bachelor’s degree in economics from UC Davis in 1979 and did his graduate work at Stanford. He joined the UC Davis faculty in 2007, and before that worked for the World Agroforestry Center, a CGIAR center, as principal economist and global coordinator of the ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins (formerly known as the Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn Programme).

He has worked in a dozen countries, including significant periods based in Egypt, Indonesia and Kenya.

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Professor Shu Lin, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has received NASA’s Exceptional Public Achievement Medal. The honor acknowledges Lin’s 25 years of exceptional service and “outstanding contributions to the NASA mission.” Most recently, Lin developed code allowing the IRIS solar observatory to communicate data about the lower layers of the sun’s atmosphere.

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Two faculty members recently received honorary doctorates:

• Gurdev Khush, adjunct professor, Department of Plant Sciences, honored by McGill University. Part of the Green Revolution, this agronomist spearheaded a program of developing improved rice varieties.

He joined the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines in 1967 and was appointed head of the plant breeding division a few years later. He conceptualized and developed a new type of rice with a 20 percent higher yield potential.

The adoption of modern varieties has helped double the world’s rice supply and enabled self-sufficiency in most of the major rice-producing countries in the world. For his contribution to food security, Khush received the World Food Prize (1996) and the Wolf Prize in Agriculture (2000).

Ronald P. Cantrell, former director general of the International Rice Research Institute, said of Khush: “While his name may have passed the lips of many, his life’s work passed the lips of almost half of mankind.”

• Alex McCalla, professor emeritus, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, honored by the University of Alberta. He is an internationally recognized authority on world food policy, trade and economic development.

A former dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McCalla had a transformative impact on curriculum design and graduate program development. After retirement from UC Davis in 1994, he led a major effort to revitalize the World Bank’s commitment to rural development.

He also served as founding dean of the Graduate School of Management at UC Davis.

“Alex McCalla continues to be in wide demand as a consultant and speaker on world food security,” the University of Alberta declared. “The global reach of his contributions to education, public policy, and agricultural development reflect an enduring commitment to reducing rural poverty.”

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Slow Print: Literary Radicalism and Late Victorian Print Culture by Elizabeth Carolyn Miller, professor and chair of the Department of English, has been named book of the year by the North American Victorian Studies Association.

The 2013 volume explores the literary culture of Britain’s radical press from 1880 to 1910, and how socialist, anarchist and other radicals purposely reduced the scale of print by appealing to a small, countercultural audience.

A special session devoted to the book is planned in November during the association’s November conference in London, Ontario, Canada.

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James Trimmer and Victoria Dye are the recipients of the Graduate Student Association’s awards for excellence in service to graduate students.

Trimmer is a professor and chair, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, and Dye is the graduate programs administrator for art history, art studio, design and dramatic art.

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Newly elected fellows:

• American Chemical Society — Marilyn Olmstead, professor of chemistry, and Debbie Decker, safety manager for the Department of Chemistry. In bestowing the title of fellow, the society recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of chemistry and the society. The 2014 class of fellows is due to be recognized at the society’s annual meeting, to be held this year in San Francisco, Aug. 10-14.

• American Geophysical Union — Howard Spero, professor of geology. The fellows program recognizes those who have attained acknowledged eminence in earth and space sciences, as valued by their peers and vetted by a unionwide committee of fellows; each year’s class is limited to no more than 0.1 percent of total membership. This year’s class of 62 is due to be honored in December, during the AGU’s annual meeting, being held this year in San Francisco.

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Charlie Bamforth, the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences, has been elected as the 63rd president of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling.

Bamforth, who was born in Lancashire in the north of England, has worked for more than 36 years in academic and corporate roles in the brewing sectors of the United Kingdom and United States. He has been a faculty member in the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology since 1999.

He is known internationally for his research and writings on all aspects of brewing science and is well known locally for his lively teaching style that engages both UC Davis students and participants in his public outreach classes. He writes on the science of brewing for technical and lay audiences; his books include Beer Is Proof God Loves Us, published in 2010.

During his tenure as president, Bamforth said, he will work to strengthen the presence and significance of the institute in the technical and educational development brewers large and small around the world.

“The world of education is changing fast,” Bamforth said.  “Students are rightly very demanding; they are looking for qualifications that will best equip them to succeed in a very competitive global jobs market.”

The institute, which is dedicated to the science and technologies of brewing, distilling and related industries, was founded in 1996.  Now as the world’s leading professional body for these industries, it has an international membership of 4,000 based in more than 50 countries.

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Sharon Coulson retired two years ago after nearly 30 years as the director of the ASUCD Coffee House, but she’s still a big deal in the National Association of College and University Food Services, which recently gave her another award.

In 1999 she received an award for outstanding service on the national level, and in 2013 she got a lifetime member award. Last month she picked up the association’s highest individual honor, the Theodore W. Minah Distinguished Service Award, recognizing exemplary and enduring contributions to collegiate food service and the association.

Over three decades, she served as the Pacific Region secretary and strategic planning liaison, as a coach-mentor for the Food Service Management Institute, and as the chair of the Campus Dining Today editorial board, in addition to serving on various committees and project teams.

“Leadership and passionate commitment to NACUFS has continued throughout Sharon’s long career in collegiate food service,” said Russ Meyer, associate director of Housing Operations and Dining Services, University of Nevada-Reno. “The success of her operation at UC Davis is directly linked with her effectiveness in leading and guiding student managers and her staff.”

Coulson received the Minah award in July at the association’s annual meeting, held this year in Baltimore. Coulson attended with her husband, Ted Abresch, who retired as a staff research associate the same day as his wife in 2012.

Coulson’s successor, Darin Schluep, also attended, along with two of his managers: Elisa Hagopian, kitchen, and Lauren Woods, front of house.

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New hall of famers:

• American Contract Bridge League — Professor Emeritus Chip Martel, one of two members voted in by their peers this year.

Martel came to UC Davis in 1980 and helped establish the Department of Computer Science. “In the 1985-86 academic year, he both gained tenure and won a world bridge championship,” Phillip Alder wrote in his July 16 bridge column in The New York Times.

Alder described Martel as “one of the best players ever.” In world championships, he’s won nine medals: five gold, three silver and a bronze, eight of them in partnership with Lew Stansby and one (a silver) with Mark Feldman. In addition, Martel has two golds, a silver and a bronze as either coach or nonplaying captain of U.S. teams. He’s won 30 nationals titles and been second 19 times.

Oh, and his wife, Jan, is in the Hall of Fame, too.

• U.S. Tennis Association Northern California — Bill Maze, women's tennis head coach since 1995, a three-time coach of the year while guiding his teams to eight NCAA Division II championship appearances.

Since UC Davis joined the Big West Conference in 2007, Maze's teams have won 83 overall and 27 league matches.

The induction ceremony took place July 31 during the Bank of the West Tennis Clasic at Stanford University, which happens to be Maze’s alma mater. He earned All-American honors in three of his four seasons, and helped the Cardinal team capture two NCAA championships, 1977 and 1978.

Read the news release from the Department of Athletics.

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

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