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Awards and Honors

December 15, 2022
Biochemist Laura Sanchez receives Allen Distinguished Investigator award
Sanchez is among 16 new Allen Distinguished Investigators awarded a total of $10 million in research funding to support cutting-edge projects in protein lifespan and nutrient sensing.
December 08, 2022
J.J. Garcia-Luna-Aceves elected to the 2022 National Academy of Inventors
J.J. Garcia-Luna-Aceves, distinguished professor and chair of the computer science and engineering department, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.
December 06, 2022
UC Santa Cruz professor inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame
Judith Scott, UC Santa Cruz professor emerita of education, was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame on Dec. 1 at the Literary Research Association Conference. Scott was recognized and honored for her longstanding career and numerous contributions to teach education and research.
December 05, 2022
Biologist Needhi Bhalla awarded ASCB Prize for Excellence in Inclusivity
Bhalla was recognized for her research endeavors and high-impact diversity, equity, and inclusivity actions over the years.
November 15, 2022
List of most highly cited researchers features 19 UCSC scientists and engineers
A new list of the world's most highly cited researchers includes 19 scientists and engineers at UC Santa Cruz.
November 14, 2022
ARCS Foundation scholarships support UCSC graduate students
Sixteen UC Santa Cruz graduate students have received scholarships worth a total of $160,000 from the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation for the 2022-23 academic year.
October 28, 2022
Biologist Daniel Costa receives Outstanding Faculty Award
Daniel Costa, distinguished professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and director of the Institute of Marine Sciences, has received the 2021-22 Outstanding Faculty Award from the Division of Physical and Biological Sciences.
October 13, 2022
Two UCSC alumni win awards for excellence in science communication
Jessica Kendall-Bar and Rodrigo Pérez Ortega were winners in the National Academies’ inaugural Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communication.
October 12, 2022
Biomolecular engineering professor wins American Cancer Society award to develop technology for cancer early detection
Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Daniel Kim won a four-year, $792,000 Research Scholar award from the American Cancer Society to support his work in developing RNA liquid biopsy technology to diagnose cancer early on.
October 11, 2022
Astronomer Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz honored as Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences
Ramirez-Ruiz and alumnus Scott Shaffer were selected by the California Academy of Sciences to join the ranks of Academy Fellows.
October 10, 2022
UCSC engineer played crucial role in 2022 Nobel Prize-winning research
UC Santa Cruz Baskin School of Engineering Professor Richard (Ed) Green was a major contributor to the Neanderthal Genome Project , the leader of which, Svante Pääbo, received the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
October 10, 2022
Politics Professor Mark Fathi Massoud recognized nationally for teaching and mentoring, research excellence
Politics and Legal Studies Professor Mark Fathi Massoud won two awards during the recent American Political Science Association (APSA) annual meeting.
October 04, 2022
Biologist Carol Greider to receive Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics
Greider, a professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology, will receive the Association of Molecular Pathology's highest honor.
October 03, 2022
Ocean scientist Christina Ravelo awarded AGU’s Maurice Ewing Medal
The American Geophysical Union's Ewing Medal is given annually in recognition of significant original contributions to the ocean sciences .
September 08, 2022
UCSC researchers win big at American Sociological Association annual meeting
Professor emeritus Craig Reinarman was honored with the 2022 Senior Scholar Award by the ASA’s Drugs and Society Section, and Ph.D. student Michelle Gomez Parra received the Sociology of Sexualities Section's Martin P. Levine Memorial Dissertation Fellowship. Politics Professors Eleonora Pasotti and Mark Massoud were celebrated for book awards.
September 07, 2022
Computer scientist wins 'test of time' award for foundational work in game theory
Nearly 20 years after publishing his paper “The element of surprise in timed games,” UC Santa Cruz Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Luca de Alfaro received a surprise himself: he won the 2022 CONCUR test of time award.
September 07, 2022
With Pivot Fellowship, astronomer J. Xavier Prochaska turns to oceanography
A new program from the Simons Foundation supports successful researchers who have a deep interest, curiosity, and drive to make contributions to a new discipline.
August 31, 2022
Applied mathematician wins DOE grant to improve the safety of particle accelerators
UCSC Professor of Applied Mathematics Dongwook Lee has won a three-year, $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, which will fund his research on improving computer models for safety mechanisms within particle accelerators.
August 31, 2022
Astronomer Ariadna Murguia-Berthier wins 2022 Trumpler Award for Ph.D. thesis
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is honoring Murguia-Berthier for the research she completed as a graduate student in astronomy at UC Santa Cruz.
August 26, 2022
NSF award will support project to promote reproducibility in computer science
With the support of a three-year, $900,000 grant from the NSF, Carlos Maltzahn will participate in collaborative research to increase the reproducibility of computer science research.
August 19, 2022
Economics Professor Robert Fairlie takes home the Bradford-Osborne Research Award for the second year in a row
The annual award recognizes the best peer-reviewed paper on diversity and entrepreneurship, and Fairlie was honored for his years-long research on the lack of access to capital for Black-owned startups compared to white-owned startups.
August 15, 2022
Lenses and Mirrors-Shadow the Scientists receives Heising-Simons Foundation grant
Kickstarted by UC Santa Cruz Astronomy and Astrophysics Professor Raja GuhaThakurta, Lenses and Mirrors–Shadow the Scientists brings cutting-edge scientific research to anybody’s computer screen.
August 12, 2022
UCSC graduate student wins HHMI Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study
Gilliam Fellowships support exceptional graduate students and their advisers who are committed to increasing diversity among scientific leaders.
August 11, 2022
Biochemist Laura Sanchez wins ACS Infectious Diseases Young Investigator Award
Laura Sanchez, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCSC, has been chosen to receive the 2022 ACS Infectious Diseases Young Investigator Award.
August 04, 2022
Two UCSC grad students are finalists for prestigious Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships
The finalists for the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program include UCSC graduate students Austen Stovall and Ellen Willis‑Norton.
August 04, 2022
NOAA scholarship supports graduate student’s seabird conservation research
Aspen Ellis, a Ph.D. student in ecology and evolutionary biology, is one of seven students nationwide selected by NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries to receive a 2022 Nancy Foster Scholarship.
July 22, 2022
Chancellor earns CUCSA award for staff-supportive leadership
The 2021-22 Outstanding Senior Leadership Award recognizes high-level leaders throughout the system who are supportive and inclusive of UC staff, and encourage equity, diversity and community.
July 13, 2022
Seismologist Emily Brodsky awarded Nemmers Prize in Earth Sciences
Professor Emily Brodsky has received the 2022 Nemmers Prize in Earth Sciences, awarded by Northwestern University for achievement and work of lasting significance in the field of Earth sciences.
June 29, 2022
~$6M NSF grant for cyber-physical systems project will enable engineers to explore the next generation of transportation systems
With the support of a nearly $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), researchers at UC Santa Cruz will lead a five year, multi-institutional project to explore a new vision of engineering cyber-physical systems.
June 27, 2022
Campus recognizes innovative, dedicated teachers
The Academic Senate’s Committee on Teaching (COT) in collaboration with Chancellor Larive and CP/EVC Kletzer, Cruz celebrated UCSC’s innovative and dedicated teachers with a gathering at the Cowell Provost House in early June.
June 08, 2022
Prestigious $3.8M NIH grant awarded to biomolecular engineering professor to develop an RSV vaccine
Associate Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Rebecca DuBois will use the five-year grant to develop a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, a common and potentially dangerous virus.
June 08, 2022
Social Sciences Division recognizes students at annual awards event
The annual Student Awards Luncheon honors undergraduates and graduate students across the Social Sciences Division for excellence in scholarship and creativity.
June 06, 2022
Associate Professor Nick Mitchell receives 2021-22 Distinguished Teaching Award
Nick Mitchell was honored for his positive impact on students and the leading role he has played in creating new programs that foster the intellectual development of students and UC Santa Cruz
June 03, 2022
‘Crossing Latinidades’ program selects UC Santa Cruz faculty and graduate students for national research and mentoring collaboration
Two UC Santa Cruz faculty were awarded $310,000 grants to lead national research working groups, and two doctoral students have been selected for one-year research fellowships and a summer institute focused on interdisciplinary research methods.
May 26, 2022
Biologist Bruce Lyon honored by American Ornithological Society
Bruce Lyon, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, has been chosen to receive the 2022 Elliott Coues Award from the American Ornithological Society.
May 25, 2022
Sociology doctoral candidate wins national fellowship for research on travel programs that teach youth about the African diaspora
Theresa Hice-Fromille was one of five top scholars selected nationwide for the American Sociological Association’s 2022-2023 Minority Fellowship program. Funding from this and other recent awards will support her dissertation research on travel abroad programs led by Black women that teach youth about the African diaspora.
May 19, 2022
Politics doctoral candidate wins Newcombe Fellowship for research on women’s testimony against sexual violence
Natali Levin-Schwartz is one of 22 winners of a national fellowship award for scholars working on ethical or religious issues. Her dissertation research focuses on how women resist and organize against sexual violence and the role that testimony plays in that process.
May 04, 2022
John Brown Childs earns UC’s highest system-wide award for emeriti
UC Santa Cruz Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology John Brown Childs is a 2021-2022 recipient of the Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award, which recognizes exceptional legacies of research, teaching, and service.
May 03, 2022
Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz chosen for prestigious Julio Cortázar Latin American Chair
Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz, has been selected to hold the Julio Cortázar Latin American Chair at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, for 2022.
May 02, 2022
Women's water polo team wins Division III championship
The UC Santa Cruz women's water polo club won the Collegiate Water Polo Association Women’s Division III Club Championship in Middlebury, Vermont, on Sunday.
April 28, 2022
Linguist Sandra Chung elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Sandra Chung, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Linguistics, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.
April 21, 2022
Institute for the Biology of Stem Cells awarded $1M training grant for postdoctoral researchers
The directors of the Institute for the Biology of Stem Cells brought in a new $1M training grant for postdoctoral researchers, and have been awarded over $12M in grants in just two years.
April 15, 2022
Honoring UC Santa Cruz’s 2022 Distinguished Graduate Student Alumni
Each year, UC Santa Cruz’s five academic divisions select one graduate student alumnus/a/i as their Distinguished Graduate Student Alumni honoree. The awards ceremony for the 2022 cohort will take place on April 23 of Alumni Weekend.
April 14, 2022
Statistics professor wins Hellman fellowship to rethink verbal autopsy survey design
Assistant professor of statistics Richard Li will use his Hellman award to rethink survey design for verbal autopsy, the process of determining cause of death outside of the hospital which is routinely implemented in many low- and middle-income countries throughout the world.
April 14, 2022
Politics professor’s book challenging Western notions of Sharia wins global acclaim
In the past year, Politics and Legal Studies Professor Mark Fathi Massoud's latest book has earned him a series of award recognitions, speaking engagements around the globe, and an invitation to a closed session with resident representatives of the United Nations Development Program.
April 11, 2022
Risa Wechsler named 2022 Physical and Biological Sciences Distinguished Graduate Student Alumna
UC Santa Cruz alumna Risa Wechsler (Ph.D. Physics ’01) has played an instrumental role in groundbreaking research in the cosmology field, with pioneering galaxy structure and cosmic structure surveys, and more than 300 widely cited publications. Wechsler has also been committed to ensuring the growth of diversity and inclusion within the physics and astronomy community.
April 07, 2022
Sarah Peelo named 2022 Social Sciences Division Distinguished Graduate Student Alumna
Sarah Peelo (Ph.D. Anthropology ’09) looked to UC Santa Cruz as an institution beaming with women in leadership. Now company president and co-owner of cultural resource management firm, Albion, Peelo is at the forefront of cultural preservation in the Bay Area.
April 07, 2022
William Long named 2022 Arts Division Distinguished Graduate Student Alumnus
William Long’s (B.A. Music ’11, M.A. Music ’13) passion for music began when he was six years old. After receiving his B.A. and M.A. from UC Santa Cruz, Long went on to conduct for San Francisco Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis/St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, and the London Symphony Orchestra.
April 07, 2022
Harryette Mullen named 2022 Humanities Division Distinguished Graduate Student Alumna
The Humanities Division’s 2022 Distinguished Graduate Student Alumna, Harryette Mullen (M.A. Literature ’86, Ph.D. Literature ’90), published her first poetry book Tree Tall Women in 1981 and has since published dozens of poems, stories, books, and essays that have been published worldwide and reprinted in over one hundred anthologies.
April 05, 2022
How mentorship and a transformative graduate experience inspired alumnus Brian Levine to build a legacy of socially responsible innovation
Baskin Engineering’s 2022 distinguished graduate student alumnus Brian Levine credits his time at UC Santa Cruz for giving him the tools to become a life-long educator and socially impactful researcher.
April 04, 2022
Physical and Biological Sciences Division honors three prominent alumni
The PBSci Distinguished Alumni Awards recognize contributions to society by graduate and undergraduate alums.
April 01, 2022
Biochemist Laura Sanchez wins ASP Matt Suffness Young Investigator Award
Laura Sanchez, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has been chosen by the American Society of Pharmacognosy as the 2022 winner of the ASP Matt Suffness Young Investigator Award.
March 04, 2022
Institute For Advanced Study selects environmental sociologist Hillary Angelo as a member
UC Santa Cruz Associate Professor of Sociology Hillary Angelo was selected among a group of 25 world-leading researchers and academics who will focus on the theme “Climate Crisis Politics" as 2022-2023 members of the IAS School of Social Science.
March 03, 2022
Computer scientist Yang Liu wins NSF CAREER award
Yang Liu, assistant professor of computer science as the Baskin School of Engineering, won a prestigious NSF CAREER award for his study of human-centered machine learning.
March 02, 2022
Danielle Dadiego named recipient of 2022 Society for American Archaeology Dissertation Award
UC Santa Cruz alumna Danielle Dadiego (M.A. Anthropology, ’17; Ph.D. Anthropology, ’20) has worked in the archeology field for nearly two decades. Her dissertation, Beads, Bullets, and Brokerage: Exploring Economic Agency in Eighteenth-Century West Florida, has been nationally recognized by the 2022 Society for American Archaeology Dissertation Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the archeology field.
February 15, 2022
Chemistry Professor Yuan Ping wins Sloan Research Fellowship
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship to Yuan Ping, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC Santa Cruz.
February 09, 2022
White House honors astronomer Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz with mentoring award
The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring represent the highest honors bestowed upon mentors who work to expand STEM talent.
February 08, 2022
Computer scientist Lindsey Kuper wins NSF CAREER award
Lindsey Kuper, assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has won a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund her lab’s study of distributed systems.
February 07, 2022
Marine scientist Adina Paytan wins EGU’s Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky Medal
The European Geosciences Union (EGU) has awarded the 2022 Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky Medal for exceptional contributions to biogeosciences to Adina Paytan, a research scientist at the UC Santa Cruz Institute of Marine Sciences.
January 26, 2022
Two UCSC professors elected 2021 AAAS Fellows
Biologist Suzanne Alonzo and Earth scientist James Zachos have been awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
January 26, 2022
History professor earns 2021 National Jewish Book Award for look at New York Hasidic Jewish community
Nathaniel Deutsch was recently announced as a winner of a 2021 National Jewish Book Award in the category of American Jewish Studies for his recently-published work, A Fortress in Brooklyn: Race, Real Estate, and the Making of Hasidic Williamsburg. He shares the award with his co-author Michael Casper.
January 24, 2022
Biochemist Carrie Partch honored by the National Academy of Sciences
Carrie Partch, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, will be honored by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) with the 2022 NAS Award in Molecular Biology.
January 06, 2022
Undergraduate Pearl Ibeanusi wins national scholarship in honor of late U.S. Rep. Patsy Takemoto Mink
UCSC student Pearl Ibeanusi was one of five women selected among nationwide applicants to receive a scholarship award recognizing her outstanding record of community service and educational and career goals.