As a professor of history and UC Davis associate dean for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, Ellen Hartigan-O'Connor teaches and coaches them through both common challenges, like how to connect with a faculty advisor, and very thorny ones that don’t always have clear solutions.
Marilu Henner, the actress perhaps best-known for her role on the classic TV show Taxi, spent the afternoon of February 24 on campus while filming a documentary with Ranganath, a professor of psychology and a leading expert on memory. Henner is one of fewer than 70 people worldwide who have been identified to have highly superior autobiographical memory, or HSAM.
Studying abroad is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many. Luckily, UC Davis offers many valuable experiences that help Aggies develop new perspectives, both academically and personally. Paola Simi, a current fourth-year majoring in political science, can attest to this fact after her recent time abroad.
Kathleen DuVal, history Ph.D. alum and 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner, returned to UC Davis to give a talk to a packed audience at the Walter A. Buehler Alumni Center on February 25 to share her research on Tecumseh, a 19th century Native American leader.
Meghan Fredericksen is a fourth-year communication major and professional writing minor. She shares three key staff members that are important to connect with during your time at UC Davis.
Hoping to expand on her global experiences and to explore mental health work in an international setting, Lauren Riggs, a third-year double major in Psychology and Human Development and a Professional Writing minor, had the opportunity to spend six weeks in New Zealand for her internship last summer. Through a combination of coursework and hands-on interactions, she became immersed in the country’s rich culture.
UC Davis undergraduate students have been contributing to economics research on whether the Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, program, a U.S. safety net program, improves children’s test scores.
Eugene Lunn served as a professor of history at UC Davis for two decades before his untimely passing in 1990, but his work as a scholar and his deep commitment to his students left a powerful impression that continues to resonate today.
Jessie Murray, Letters and Science Orange Cluster chief administrative officer, is finding new ways to both support students and take the sting out of budget uncertainty and cuts. For her work, Murray received the 2025 Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Award for Exceptional University Management.
On January 27, a UC Davis Global Migration Center expert panel discussed Solito, the 2026 UC Davis Campus Community Book Project Selection, and how different research disciplines explore complex questions about immigration in the U.S.
