Alumni Achievers Content

Alum Named 2026 American Psychological Association President

Jocelyn C Anderson — January 07, 2026 - 12:50pm

Wendi S. Williams ’99 brings a powerful blend of scholarship, leadership, and lived experience to her new role as American Psychological Association president. A psychology major at 51�ԹϺ�� Davis, she is driven by curiosity, empathy, and a deep commitment to social change and found her calling in psychology through storytelling, connection and advocacy.

Ph.D. Alum Wins ‘Genius’ MacArthur Grant

Jocelyn C Anderson — November 17, 2025 - 10:40am

For evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers, Ph.D. ’05, winning a 2025 MacArthur fellowship — “genius grant” — came as a total shock.

“I was stunned,” said Kiers, a professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. “I think it’s the mystery of the process that makes winning the fellowship so exciting because there’s no application, no forms, you have no idea who nominated you. It’s magic.”

At Napa’s Matthiasson Winery, 51�ԹϺ�� Davis Connections Age Well

Jocelyn C Anderson — November 17, 2025 - 9:33am

It’s an autumn day at Matthiasson Winery, and the place is humming. Steve and Jill Klein Matthiasson are coordinating the delivery of freshly harvested grapes, crews are prepping the gear needed to crush, destem and begin fermentation, and guests are arriving to taste already bottled vintages while seated at outdoor tables overlooking the Napa Valley.

51�ԹϺ�� Regents Bring More Aggies on Board

Jocelyn C Anderson — September 30, 2025 - 3:05pm

The 51�ԹϺ�� Davis contingent on the 51�ԹϺ�� Board of Regents grew larger this summer with the swearing in of two additional Aggies.

Four Aggies — an alum, a grad student, a faculty member and a staffer — hold official roles with the 51�ԹϺ�� Board of Regents, which oversees all 10 51�ԹϺ�� campuses; other Aggies address the regents at each meeting but don’t hold formal roles on the board.

Aggies at the Helm

Russell L Thebaud — June 25, 2025 - 3:58pm

What begins at 51�ԹϺ�� Davis doesn’t stop at graduation. For these three alumni, it led all the way to the president’s office — shaping the future of higher education at universities across the country.

Meet Ellen Granberg ’84, president of George Washington University (GW); Doug Girod ’81, chancellor of the University of Kansas (KU); and Carol Folt Ph.D. ’82, president of the University of Southern California (USC).

A Supportive Network

Jocelyn C Anderson — May 19, 2025 - 9:00am

Shane Snyder ’89 can relate to the challenges his clients face at the Society for the Blind in Sacramento.

As the director of programs, Snyder helps connect people to resources they need to build independent living skills when they lose their sight. But personally, he also has confronted vision loss due to Usher syndrome, a congenital degenerative condition that affects both eyes and ears.

“I had to learn some new ways to do the things I already knew how to do,” said Snyder, who wears aids to help with hearing.

Alum Receives Early Career Fellowship

Jocelyn C Anderson — February 25, 2025 - 4:14pm

Victoria Watson-Zink, Ph.D. ’22, a postdoctoral evolutionary marine biologist, received the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Hanna H. Gray Fellowship last month. This year’s fellowship supports the transition of 25 early-career scientists to leading labs and becoming tenured faculty.

All About Flavor

Jocelyn C Anderson — February 18, 2025 - 12:55pm

Arielle Johnson, Ph.D. ’14, knew she wanted to study food science after a research project on Turkish ice cream, a dessert made stretchy with orchid root. Now, Johnson is an established food scientist, advising restaurants and food manufacturers internationally.

She graduated New York University in 2009 and applied to a variety of programs for food science, aiming to apply chemistry to gastronomy and cuisine. “Most of them said, ‘we don't really do that,’” she said. “There wasn’t really anyone doing exactly what I do 15 years ago.”

Early Days

Jocelyn C Anderson — August 19, 2024 - 9:55pm

Dawnté Early ’05, M.S. ’08, Ph.D. ’11, spent midmorning on a recent summer day painting rocks with several 4- and 5-year-old boys. At times it got pretty messy, with yellow, red and blue combining to make a dingy brown, but that was all part of the learning process.

This KinderCamp program introduces children who didn’t have access to preschool to the classroom for four weeks in the summer. United Way runs the program in partnership with several local groups.

The Grocery Game

Jocelyn C Anderson — May 21, 2024 - 2:44am

Larry Liu, M.B.A. ’08, has made ethnic cuisine more accessible for food lovers nationwide.