College

Support Spotlight

With an initial investment and leadership from alum John '84 and his wife, Gina, Wasson the Dean's Executive Committee has raised nearly $500,000 to endow the Pop-up Institutes.

Deanship
$5 million to endow
Endow the unlimited potential of our college by empowering today’s—and all future—leaders via a prestigious deanship. Discretionary funds can be used to amplify our research strengths, invest strategically for the future, and support students, faculty and staff while elevating our status for excellence. An endowed deanship would catalyze research across our four themes by recruiting world-class faculty, seeding early stage innovations and bringing visionaries to campus. The endowment would enable the dean to seize new opportunities to grow the college’s reputation and prestige.

Next Level Research Awards
$750,000 to endow or $30,000 current-use per award
Seed bold discovery and celebrate interdisciplinary collaboration among faculty by supporting research awards that drive innovation. Annually, teams come together to pitch and obtain 100% seed funding for groundbreaking research that has the potential to advance national leadership and secure extramural funding.

Pop-Up Institutes
$2 million to endow or $75,000 annually
Drive collaboration among experts from academia, industry and national labs who travel to UC Davis and work intensively on advancing our next level research. Institute themes and collaborators will change each year, ensuring novel and nimble approaches. One year, the focus could be transportation challenges where scientists, sociologists, economists and industry experts “pop up” during the summer to explore the impact of autonomous vehicles. Following a culminating symposium, the research team might then apply for a $25 million to $50 million federal grant to establish a permanent center at UC Davis.

AI Center in Engineering Programs
$750,000 to endow or $30,000 annually
Fund the center’s activities and catalyze collaboration via thought-provoking lecture series, research seminars, education summits and cross-campus forums with industry partners and policymakers. Our college is leading the way in leveraging AI for the betterment of humanity and the planet.

Faculty

Support Spotlight

Alum Susan Ellis ’78 and her husband, Mark Linton, have given $1 million to support research in the Center for Neuroengineering and Medicine and for UC Davis’ Sustainable Cities, Sustainable Campuses initiative. 

Research Vision Leadership Chairs
$2 million to endow for each research area or $80,000 current-use
Provide funds for remarkable leaders to elevate the impact of our research. Chairs can be established as permanent investments that generate income forever, endowed administrative chairs provide funds to support the teaching, research and service activities of our college—such as hosting a symposium that includes experts from around the world, hiring a grant writer who pursues multimillion-dollar grants, sponsoring an award for a student team competition or supporting a graduate student for a new faculty member’s lab.

Next Level Early Career Faculty Fellowships
$150,000 for each research area
Strengthen efforts to attract and retain top talent as they launch their research careers at UC Davis. Recruitment packages empower scholars to build up bold and high-impact research programs that bring national recognition, honors and diverse talent to our university.

Students

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A new award to recognize and support undergraduate student research to advance human health has been established with a $25,000 gift from alum Lew '64 and his wife, Linda, Whitney.

Graduate Student Fellowships
$100,000 to endow or $5,000 current-use per student
Help attract fresh perspectives by bolstering the key role graduate students play in keeping our research on the leading edge. Ten new fellows would add value to every aspect of the university, becoming leaders in their fields.

Undergraduate Research Assistantships
$50,000 to endow or $5,000 current-use per student
Empower students to work in labs and gain enriching research experiences that pave the way for academic and career success while bolstering their identities as engineers.

“Hacking 4” Classes
$100,000 to endow or $5,000 per class
Catalyze Aggie entrepreneurship in engineering via courses focused on solutions and techniques for startup success. Taught by industry leaders who are hired as lecturers, students form teams based on industry-sourced problems and spend a quarter validating the financial and technical viability of business ideas.

Support for Student Clubs
$50,000 to endow or $5,000 current-use
Inspire student groups to dream bigger and achieve more by supporting research beyond the classroom. Undergraduate-led organizations like Engineers Without Borders, the Biomedical Engineering Society and the Adaptive Technology Association are tackling challenges that fall within our Research Strategic Vision areas.

Prizes and Awards
$50,000 to endow or $5,000 current-use per student
Celebrate students who demonstrate engineering excellence and the best in leadership, academic achievement and service both in and out of the classroom.