Meet the 2025 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Medalists
Every two years, the College of Engineering proudly recognizes alumni whose professional and personal achievements bring special honor to the college by awarding the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Medal. Recipients have a record of outstanding achievement in business, academia or public service, substantial contributions to the UC Davis community and at least 10 years of professional experience since graduation.
2025 DEAM Recipients
John Baum — Aerospace Science and Engineering '69
Former Captain and Pilot, United Airlines
As a commercial airline pilot with United Airlines for 37 years, John Baum logged nearly 23,000 flight hours and notched a United Airlines Award of Merit (2000) and United Airlines Captain of the Year (1999) under his belt before retiring in 2007. Before joining United Airlines in 1969, Baum was learning aerodynamics, rocket propulsion and compressible fluids from the College of Engineering's founding fathers like Roy Bainer, John Kemper and Amiya Mukherjee. He was also learning how to fly at the University Airport as a member of the Cal Aggie Flying Farmers club, for which he served as president in his final undergraduate year. Fueled by fond memories of engineering exploits like attempting a steam conversion to an old Chevrolet Corvair, Baum provided the seed funding for the Diane Bryant Engineering Student Design Center and rallied several other members of the class of 1969 to contribute the final gifts to make the center a reality, to help UC Davis offer the same engineering education that he received.
John A. Bissell — Chemical Engineering '08
Co-Founder & CEO Origin Materials
John Bissell co-founded the West Sacramento-based biomaterials company Origin Materials in 2008 when he was still a student at UC Davis. The idea started with a project for the EPA's People, Prosperity and the Planet Award that proposed designing and implementing an industrial technology that would convert wastewater biosolids into biodegradable plastics. Origin Materials now focuses on converting renewable materials like cardboard, sawdust and woodchips into chemicals used to make the type of plastics used in single-use water and soda bottles, food storage containers, clothing and automotive parts. Bissell has been acknowledged for his contributions to sustainable design by the AFCC Global Biobased Economy Performance Award, the US EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Award, both in 2022, the Forbes' 30 Under 30 Energy & Industry in 2014, and the UC Davis 2013 Young Alumnus Award.
Judy Chang — Electrical Engineering and Computer Science '90
Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Judy Chang joined the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in July 2024 after more than 20 years of experience in influencing energy policies. Chang is the former Undersecretary of Energy and Climate Solutions for the State of Massachusetts, where she led efforts to set policies across the Commonwealth's energy sector and align strategies and plans to meet legal requirements for climate change mitigation. At UC Davis, Chang was a member and regional representative for the university's chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, which led to later efforts to empower diversity in engineering, like becoming a founding board member of New England Women in Energy and the Environment and serving as an ambassador for the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Energy Education & Empowerment Initiative. After earning her Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and computer science, Chang received her Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School.
Linda N. Finley — Mechanical Engineering '81
Former Chief of MEGA Projects Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
After graduating from UC Davis in 1981, Finley spent a year at Mobile Oil Corporation before following in her father's footsteps and joining the engineering department for the U.S. Army. For the next 39 years, Finley worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and retired from her position as chief of the MEGA Projects Center in 2021. Her duties included leadership, knowledge, management and oversight of programs and projects, as well as coordination and communication with local organizations. In 2020, the Army bestowed Finley with the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal (the third highest honor granted by U.S. Army Commanders) and a Bronze de Fleury Medal, which recognizes individuals who have provided significant contributions to Army engineering. A member of the Society of Women Engineers, or SWE, since 1978, Finley served as a professional advisor to the UC Davis branch from 2000 to 2020.
Jeffrey Reed — Electrical Engineering '79, M.S. '80, Ph.D. '87
Willis G. Worcester Professor of ECE, Virginia Tech | Founding Director of Wireless@Virginia Tech | CTO of Commonwealth Cyber Initiative
Jeffrey Reed is among the most impactful engineers of wireless technology. He has authored or co-authored over 400 journal and conference papers on the topic, including a comprehensive review of fundamental cellular network operations. He also wrote one of the first textbooks on software-defined radios and helped develop related areas of research, such cognitive and AI-driven radios. In the '90s, he worked on the Global System for Mobile Communications, which established the standard for cellular networks and paved the way for modern 5G networks. He is perhaps best known for his seminal research in spectrum sharing, developing a patented system for sharing frequency channels between networks. For his groundbreaking contributions, Reed has been elected as a fellow by IEEE and the National Academy of Inventors. He currently serves as the founding director of Wireless@Virginia Tech, one of the largest university wireless research groups in the United States, and is the founder of numerous other centers and companies pushing the frontiers of wireless technology. He is part of the advisory board for the UC Davis Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Rob Tobias — Electrical Engineering '86
CEO, HDMI Licensing Administrator, Inc. (HDMI LA)
Across his career, Rob Tobias has made significant contributions to the development and adoption of HDMI technology, the industry standard for transmitting high-definition video and audio signals. Since 2015, Tobias has served as the CEO of HDMI LA, a spinout he orchestrated from parent company Lattice Semiconductor. The San Jose-based HDMI LA is the sole organization capable of licensing HDMI technology, specifications and features. Tobias recently oversaw its launch of the HDMI 2.2 standard, which enables display fidelities of 8K and beyond. Before HDMI LA, Tobias was a senior director with Silicon Image (now known as Lattice Semiconductor); there, he was instrumental in the company's development of HDMI semiconductors and IP products. He has also served as the vice chair of the Marketing Working Group for the HDMI Forum, Inc., a non-profit, mutual benefit corporation advancing next-generation versions of HDMI. Currently, he is chair of the Dean's Executive Committee in the UC Davis College of Engineering, supporting the college through advocacy, prospective donor identification and cultivation, and personal philanthropy.
Steve Verigin — Civil Engineering '78
Senior Vice President and Senior Principal Consultant, GEI Consultants, Inc. | Former Deputy Director and Acting Chief Deputy Director, California Department of Water Resources
Steve Verigin is a nationally recognized expert on water resources engineering, particularly in the areas of dam safety, design and construction. For 20 years, Verigen led GEI Consultants, Inc.'s national dam and levee safety practice west of the Rocky Mountains. He also served as the regional manager for the entire Western Region and as chair of the GEI Board of Directors. Prior to GEI Consultants, Inc., Verigen showed remarkable leadership at the California Department of Water Resources, serving variously as chief of the division of safety of dams, deputy director and acting chief deputy director, roles in which he provided policy direction and oversaw daily operations for the government agency. Verigen has also demonstrated exceptional support for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He has been an active member on the department's advisory board, helped with the development of ECI 190 — "The Civil Engineer in Society" to ensure ABET certification and has given numerous talks and guest lectures to graduate and undergraduate students.
Jack Yao — Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering '96
President & CFO at Applied Engineering
Jack Yao's path to leadership began with a technical position at Watkins-Johnson, where he led a 15-person team on projects that would shape the future of semiconductor manufacturing, like developing a patented 300-mm wafer carrier for APCVD systems. His path led to a position as systems engineering manager at Silicon Valley Group, then ASML, which became Aviza Technology, where he transitioned to product manager for the atomic layer deposition and thermal business units. He joined Owens Design, Inc., as director of business development and finally, in 2015, Yao became president and CFO at Applied Engineering, steering the company into new markets, including 3D printing, medical devices, industrial drones and flat-panel displays. Yao serves on the board of advisors for the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and served as chair from 2021 to 2024.
