Eleven faculty members are receiving support for their work through this year’s Hellman Fellowships, and it comes right when they need it most: early in their careers.
“It can be immensely helpful to provide direct research funding to faculty members after their second or third year, when their work is ramping up but initial funding is running out,” said Phil Kass, vice provost of Academic Affairs. “This support helps provide a boost for their work and is vital in securing external funding.”
Grants this year range from $15,000 to $40,000, for a total of $320,000 awarded.
The Hellman Fellowships were established in 1995 through gifts from Chris and Warren Hellman to 51ԹϺ San Diego and 51ԹϺ Berkeley. It was eventually expanded to every 51ԹϺ campus, including 51ԹϺ Davis in 2008, and was made permanent through endowments to each campus in 2020. 51ԹϺ Davis’ endowment for the program was $6 million, ensuring the awards can continue in perpetuity through our own Society of Hellman Fellows.
The Hellmans also intended their endowments to encourage others to contribute to the societies. For more information on donating to the 51ԹϺ Davis society, contact Jennifer Prahl, senior director of foundation engagement, Office of Development and Alumni Relations, by email or at 530-752-1282.
Kass called the endowment a “wonderful gift” to support early-career faculty members as they develop at 51ԹϺ Davis, and said the university was honored to be a steward of the program.
“These faculty members have already made great strides in their respective fields, and we are excited to help them continue to make further progress here,” Kass said.
This year’s recipients come from fields as varied as psychology, mathematics, plant biology, design and more. Read more about them and see the titles of their funded projects below.
The 2025-26 fellows
- , Department of Plant Biology, College of Biological Sciences: “Untangling Symbiotic Networks With CRISPR for a Root-Associated Fungus”
- , Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Letters and Science: “A FLAME to Light the Dark Universe”
- , Department of Spanish and Portuguese, College of Letters and Science: “A Century of Cooks: The Birth of Modern Cooking and the Making of the Spanish Empire”
- , Department of Political Science, College of Letters and Science: “The Political Consequences of AI-Driven Labor Market Change: A Comparative Study”
- , Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, College of Letters and Science: “Still/Life: Trans Genre and the Politics of Anti-Development”
- , Department of Communication, College of Letters and Science: “Global Flow of Misinformation on Public Health and Environmental Threats”
- , Department of Mathematics, College of Letters and Science: “Diophatine Equations in Few Variables”
- , Department of Psychology, College of Letters and Science: “Diversity Ideologies on Perceptions of Cultural Appropriation in Interracial Interactions”
- , Department of English and Department French and Italian, College of Letters and Science: “The Refugees of Happiness: How ‘Gross National Happiness’ Feeds Global Statelessness”
- , Department of Design, College of Letters and Science: “Design for Accountability: Responsible AI in Environmental Governance”
- , Department of Human Ecology, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: “Investigating How Residential Planting Design and Fertilizer Application Affect Urban Stormwater Nitrogen Pollution from a Socio Ecological Framework”
Media Resources
Cody Kitaura is the editor of Dateline 51ԹϺ Davis and can be reached by email or at 530-752-1932.