College of Engineering Alumnus Michael Hurlston among 2023 CAAA Awardees
Michael Hurlston, B.S. '88, M.S. '91 in electrical and computer engineering, received the Cal Aggie Alumni Association Outstanding Alumnus Award the organization announced on March 2.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association, or CAAA, honoring the achievements and impact of outstanding alumni and friends of UC Davis.
The winners are leaders in engineering, global and local government relations, agriculture, investment and education who are being honored for their unwavering efforts to help others through their work.
"Our Alumni Awards are a signature program of the Alumni Association and to celebrate a half-century of Aggie excellence is truly a milestone," said Dana Allen, assistant vice chancellor and executive director of CAAA. "The 2023 honorees have transformed the world around them and exemplify the values that are core to UC Davis and our organization."
Hurlston is the CEO of Synaptics, a semiconductor company that is a leader in solutions for the Internet of Things market. Prior, he was CEO of an optical communications company, Finisar, and held executive positions at Broadcom, a leader in semiconductors for wireless communications. Hurlston serves on several public company boards, the UC Davis Dean's Advisory councils for the College of Engineering and Graduate School of Management, and the UC Davis Board of Trustees.
Hurlston and his wife, Joelle Hurlston '89, met as undergraduates on campus and today support several initiatives at UC Davis. In 2016 they endowed a presidential chair that rotates between the Graduate School of Management, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and College of Engineering. Their most recent gift was for holistic student support: $8 million to the Division of Student Affairs to support Aggies along every step of their college paths, from meeting basic needs to offering career development opportunities, as well as establishing the first endowed deanship on the Davis campus, at the Graduate School of Management.
