Awards & Honors

Recent awards and honors

• April 14, 2025

  Science Division staff honored with new award for outstanding service and dedication

  The Science Division is honoring staff members Jeannette Peters, Patti Schell, and Deana Tanguay for demonstrating outstanding service, leadership, teamwork, innovation, or dedication to the division’s mission within the past five years.

• April 9, 2025

  David Deamer wins 2025 SETI Institute's Drake Award

  The SETI Institute has honored David Deamer, an emeritus professor of biomolecular engineering, with its Drake Award

• April 7, 2025

  UC Santa Cruz researchers honored in Hollywood style at Breakthrough Prize ceremony

  The Breakthrough Prize Foundation, established by Silicon Valley luminaries including the tech icons behind Google and Facebook, named UC Santa Cruz astrophysicist Rebecca Jensen-Clem and former postdoctoral researcher Maaike van Kooten as co-recipients of the early-career New Horizons in Physics Prize.

• March 27, 2025

  Astronomy Ph.D. candidate researching mysteries of sub-Neptune planets wins fellowship

  UC Santa Cruz astronomy Ph.D. candidate Sagnick Mukherjee has received one of the most sought-after postdoctoral awards in the field: the prestigious 51 Pegasi b Fellowship. In its March 27 announcement, the awarding Heising-Simons Foundation named Mukherjee one of eight new fellows, recognizing them as exceptional postdoctoral scientists who deserve support to continue their research in planetary astronomy.

• March 27, 2025

  Three UC Santa Cruz faculty members named 2024 AAAS fellows

  Three UC Santa Cruz faculty members have been named new fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. AAAS awarded the lifetime honor to professors David Deamer, Theodore Holman, and Raphael Kudela on March 27.

• March 27, 2025

  Cynthia Lewis named 2025 Fellow of the American Educational Research Association

  The American Educational Research Association (AERA) has named Cynthia Lewis, professor emerita of education at the University of California, Santa Cruz, as one of its 2025 AERA Fellows.

• March 24, 2025

  Six UC Santa Cruz professors awarded 2025 NEH Grants for groundbreaking research on AI, colonial violence, and social justice

  Six UC Santa Cruz professors have received prestigious 2025 National Endowment for the Humanities awards this year, advancing scholarship on topics ranging from colonial violence to the ethical implications of artificial intelligence.

• March 12, 2025

  Research Corporation for Science Advancement honors Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz

  Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz has been named a recipient of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement’s (RCSA) Robert Holland Jr. Award, which honors outstanding contributions to research, leadership, and mentorship in the sciences.

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