Impacts of Giving

The 2024 UC Davis Medal will be awarded to philanthropists Lois and Darryl Goss, who fell in love and eloped while students and have spent their lives giving back to the university.

“Lois and Darryl have been so generous with their time, resources and commitment to providing meaningful learning experiences to students of all backgrounds,” said Chancellor Gary S. May. “Their profound contributions to the university have had a tremendous impact on generations of our Aggie family.”

Learning more about women's brains, protecting the grid from cyberattacks, exploring the capacity of quantum computing — these are transformational research projects being pursued because of a new, five-campus, University of California consortium called The UC Noyce Initiative. 

When Professor Jay Stachowicz heard that UC Davis’ chancellor needed to speak to him urgently, he worried he had done something wrong.

Hiring the world’s top faculty. Training tomorrow’s leaders. Conducting groundbreaking research.

All of these are made possible at UC Davis thanks to the power and prestige that endowed chairs and professorships bring to the university.

Faculty across UC Davis are making breakthroughs in renewable energy that have the potential to power our lives while protecting the planet.

Donor support is essential to giving UC Davis experts the resources and freedom to explore high-risk, high-reward endeavors, such as wind turbines with compostable blades and more efficient solar cells.

Meet just two of the UC Davis experts who are pushing the boundaries of what’s been possible so far, with an eye toward a sustainable future.

Digestive and gut health products are a rapidly growing part of the food and health industries. Food scientists are teaming up with biological and agricultural engineers to see if they can use a new fruit byproduct-based matrix to boost probiotics’ effectiveness by delivering active probiotics to the gut, supporting their growth and persistence there.

How do UC Davis researchers grow an idea from seed to success?

Often, it’s through the generosity of donors who invest in innovation. Supporting new ideas can lead to accelerated results, sustained grant funding and ultimately some of the greatest discoveries of our time.

Thanks to a generous gift from Lynda and Stewart Resnick, co-owners of The Wonderful Company, researchers across the university are investigating new ways to use agricultural waste to benefit the climate and sustain the growing world population.

At the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML), ocean water streams in through crisscrossing pipes, sea creatures crawl in bubbling tanks, panoramic windows show views of the ocean—and students, faculty and staff are making crucial discoveries for ocean and coastal health.

“The seawater system is really at the heart of the lab,” said BML Associate Director Kristin Aquilino, M.S. ’10, Ph.D. ’11. “You walk in, and you can see and hear the lifeblood of the Bodega Marine Lab flowing all around you.”

Imagine someone with paralysis having their first conversation with a loved one in years. Or imagine them making a simple request—I need my glasses—and the words appearing as text on a screen while spoken out loud by a computer.

This life-changing technology is quickly becoming a reality at the UC Davis Neuroprosthetics Lab thanks to a transformative gift that has accelerated research there. The lab is led by David Brandman and Sergey Stavisky, assistant professors in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UC Davis Health.

How do UC Davis researchers grow an idea from seed to success?

Often, it’s through the generosity of donors who invest in innovation. Supporting new ideas can lead to accelerated results, sustained grant funding and ultimately some of the greatest discoveries of our time.

Thanks to a generous gift from Lynda and Stewart Resnick, co-owners of The Wonderful Company, researchers across the university are investigating new ways to use agricultural waste to benefit the climate and sustain the growing world population.