Donors & Partnerships

Thriving with support

Behind every student at UC Davis is an untold story of personal growth—and for many, struggle. This is where donors make the difference by funding scholarships and other student success programs offered through the Division of Student Affairs.

Giving a Hand to Hands-on Engineering

Giving students hands-on learning experiences has been a pillar of the College of Engineering for decades. Thanks to support from donors from the 2022 Give Day, it is sure to continue for decades to come. Give Day is a 29-hour online fundraiser held every year in conjunction with UC Davis Picnic Day. This past Give Day the university raised a record-breaking $4.1 million from more than 5,000 gifts to support colleges and departments across the university.

Alumni Robert and Carolyn Caligiuri Establish Professor Amiya Mukherjee Memorial Fellowship in Materials Science

Alumni Robert ’73 and Carolyn Caligiuri ’74 have given a $1.27 million endowment to the University of California, Davis, Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UC Davis to establish the Amiya Mukherjee Memorial Fellowship in honor of Robert Caligiuri’s first mentor. The gift will support competitive doctoral students and boost the department's stature.

Pandemic Engineering

The College of Engineering’s commitment to the health and safety of the community is evident through agility, the leveraging of industry partnerships and the innovative approach to tapping into the power of citizen engineering.

Community Champion Jannie Wu supports COFFEE student club

As an electrical and computer engineering alumna, Jannie Wu understands the opportunities and challenges of pursuing an engineering degree at UC Davis. Wu has been a champion in supporting student engineers and exploring ways to encourage more females to pursue a career in electrical engineering.

UC Davis Wins 2 Awards From the W.M. Keck Foundation

For the first time in university history, the W.M. Keck Foundation has awarded two research teams at the University of California, Davis, with $1 million each in the same award cycle. One grant will support the creation of new technology for communications and medicine that operates at wavelengths that are not currently utilized. Associate professors Josh Hihath and Sebastian Gomez-Diaz in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering are leading the research.

From Pantries to Professions: Alumni Couple Give $8M for Holistic Student Support

Joelle and Michael Hurlston want all students at the University of California, Davis, to have every opportunity for a successful future. The alumni and longtime donors are giving $8 million to support Aggies along every step of their college paths, from meeting basic needs to offering the very best career development, innovation opportunities and graduate school experiences.

Saving Cool Cash on Hot Days

Can we optimize how we cool our buildings without compromising campus comfort? This question, the focus of a long-standing partnership between UC Davis Facilities Management and UC Davis Chemical Engineering (Process Systems Engineering), has resulted in savings, greener energy use and published research.