The newly launched Maria Manetti Shrem Institute for Sustainable Design, Fashion and Textiles will serve as a first-of-its-kind hub dedicated to innovation, collaboration and global impact. The institute, housed in the Department of Design, will advance wearable and smart textile technologies and promote sustainability across multiple facets of design.
Gözde Göncü-Berk, associate professor of design, has been named the inaugural Maria Manetti Shrem Endowed Chair in Design, Fashion and Textiles and the founding director of the Maria Manetti Shrem Institute for Sustainable Design, Fashion and Textiles at the University of California, Davis. Her work focuses on development of soft wearable systems that sense, respond and adapt to the body to enhance health, well-being and performance.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony held on January 26, 2025 marked the culmination of a vision made possible by philanthropist Maria Manetti Shrem through her transformative gift of over $20 million to the arts at UC Davis.
Four UC Davis alumni spent the winter learning how to draw from observation at the Royal Drawing School in London with the support of an international scholarship. Students curated their own programs, choosing from a variety of courses such as life drawing, etching and printmaking.
