They are advocates and mentors, addressing health care disparities, women’s rights, sustainability, immigration, campus climate, and mutual respect and understanding.

One works with future doctors and nurses; others work with grade-schoolers, underrepresented groups in STEM, and undocumented students and other marginalized communities and vulnerable populations.

They are this year’s recipients of the Chancellor’s Achievement Awards for Diversity and Community, presented at a reception held the evening of March 3 at the Chancellor’s Residence.

“These awards were established to honor exemplary accomplishments that contribute in substantial ways to the development and well-being of our diverse and evolving community,” said Rahim Reed, associate executive vice chancellor of Campus Community Relations.

Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi said: “We understand that the diversity of our communities is of great value to us and that our diversity is, in fact, one of our greatest strengths.

“It is important that we acknowledge and honor exemplary faculty, staff, students and community members who promote an atmosphere of inclusiveness because this is what makes our campus and our city very special places to work, teach, learn and live.”

The awards are given in seven categories: Academic Senate, Academic Federation, undergraduate student, graduate student, post-doc, staff and community. Here are the recipients, with quoted material from the presentation ceremony:

Academic Senate — Tonya Fancher, associate professor, internal medicine; and champion of diversity, working with the medical student, residency and nursing education programs to enhance their recruitment and retention — thus contributing to the School of Medicine’s distinction of being one of the most diverse medical schools in the country.

She also has worked tirelessly to address disparities in health care in vulnerable populations. For example, she led the TEACH (Transforming Education and Community Health) program in which the medical school partnered with Sacramento County to train internal medicine residents to provide culturally competent care in medically underserved communities of California and beyond.

She founded a similar program — TEACH-MS — in the School of Medicine, and serves as the program director. The “MS” stands for medical students, recruited from diverse backgrounds to become primary care physician leaders in urban underserved communities.

She also serves as the director of ACE-PC: Accelerated Competency-based Education in Primary Care.

Academic Federation — Carole Hom, academic coordinator for three National Science Foundation-funded programs. They are BioInvasions and REACH (Responding to Rapid Environmental,  Change) for graduate students, and CLIMB (Collaborative Learning at the Interface of Mathematics and Biology) for undergraduates.

“Dr. Hom is instrumental in the documented achievements of these highly interdisciplinary and challenging programs that have served students from the broadest spectrum of academic, social and cultural backgrounds.”

For example, the REACH program trained 21 graduate students total, including 12 women and two students from underrepresented groups in the STEM fields; while, in the CLIMB program, Hom trained 38 undergraduates, including 21 women, seven from underrepresented groups in STEM, two LGBTQI students, one veteran, five re-entry students, and multiple first-generation college students and Pell Grant recipients.

“As of fall 2014, all the students have gone on to pursue successful careers in STEM or are pursuing graduate degrees.”

Academic Federation — Judith Kjelstrom, lecturer, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology; co-director, Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Integrating Medicine into Basic Science (HHMI-IMBS) Training Program; director, Biotechnology Program; program coordinator, National Institutes of Health Training Program in Bi-molecular Technology; and director, Advanced Degree Program for Corporate Employees.

She is the co-principal investigator for a joint NSF project at American River College that focuses on applied biotechnology and bioinformatics training for high school teachers, and the co-founder and an advisory board member for BioTech SYSTEM, a regional consortium.

As a member of Leadership California, she collaborated with faculty and graduate students to start the Women in Leadership Seminar Series. It presented six films on women and their struggle for gender equality in local and global settings, and also included a panel discussion with female leaders from academia, industry and politics.

“Dr. Kjelstrom not only organizes programs, she encourages her students to seek positions within the community that serve elementary and middle school children. She stresses to her students the importance of planting seeds in the minds of young people, so they will be excited about seeking careers in the STEM fields.”

Undergraduate — Ana Maciel, third-year student, described as “an ambassador of diversity and inclusion” at UC Davis. She played a key role in the establishment of the AB540 and Undocumented Student Center, and works there as the academic coordinator. In addition, she is a peer adviser in the Department of Chicana/o Studies.

“Ana is a well-respected student leader for immigration reform on our campus, in the city of Davis and throughout the state … a strong advocate of social justice and human rights.”

She has been involved in the student organization SPEAK (Scholars Noting Education, Awareness and Knowledge). which was instrumental in providing peer-initiated support services for undocumented students prior to the establishment of the AB540 center.

This year she is the acting co-chair and the only undergraduate student representative appointed to the UC President’s Advisory Council on Undocumented Students. 

Graduate student — Lauren Jabusch, working toward a Ph.D. in biomedical systems engineering. She’s in her second year as an NSF fellow with the Renewable Energy Systems Opportunity for Unified Research Collaboration and Education (RESOURCE) program, which pairs Ph.D. students with elementary school teachers to help create the next generation of climate change leaders.

She served as co-director of the Campus Center for the Environment and as a sustainability intern for Student Housing, and coordinated workshops on several topics, including climate issues, energy efficiency/alternative energy, and food systems and agriculture.

She led the California Student Sustainability Coalition and today serves as chair of the coalition’s board of directors.

“Lauren has proved to be a talented and dedicated researcher, as well as a capable and earnest educator and mentor to her students at A.M. Winn Elementary School (in Sacramento), and the first-year RESOURCE fellows.”

Post-doc — Marcus Tang, legal fellow, AB540 and Undocumented Student Center. He’s a graduate of the UC Davis School of Law and works as an attorney at the school’s Immigration Law Clinic.

Consulting with staff, offering presentations, training, legal services, and information and also represents clients at UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic.

As a law student, he worked as a student legal advocate with the Immigration Law Clinic, as a summer law clerk with Legal Services of Northern California and with Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, and as a judicial extern for Alameda County Superior Court Judge Delbert C. Gee, among other roles.

“However, he is best known for his work with the UC Davis and King Hall community. He organizes and collaborates with students and faculty to address urgent and important issues affecting low-income, marginalized and people-of-color communities.”

Post-doc — Amandeep Kaur, Chancellor’s Science Fellow, who received her Ph.D. in physics in July 2014. She is described as “a trailblazer whose many efforts to foster diversity and inclusion have inspired administrators, faculty, staff and students.”

Last year, as coordinator of the Graduate Ally Coalition, she initiated the Diversity Dialogues on Graduate Education. She conducted surveys of various student populations — undocumented, international, LGBTQIA, veterans, students of color, graduate student parents and women in STEM — better understand their needs.

“Her survey findings uncovered critical issues that needed to be addressed. The dialogues facilitated community building and helped to improve campus climate.”

In addition, she spearheaded a campaign to address the issue of Non-Resident Supplemental Tuition (NRST) for international Ph.D. students. “Her relentless advocacy and passion to create equity for international students resulted in creation of new RST fellowships.”

Staff — Nathan Ellstrand, described as “the heartbeat of the Cross Cultural Center,” where, as office coordinator and an adviser to student organizations he has championed successful programs that have brought together the Middle Eastern/South Asian, Chicano/Latino, Asian American and undocumented student communities.

“The campus greatly benefits from his authentic relationships with so many members of the campus community and genuine support for advancing excellence in inclusion, affirmation, validation and celebration of the great diversity at UC Davis.”

His campus service also includes volunteer work with Staff Assembly, where he has been instrumental in outreach efforts to increase membership.

Off campus, he is a member of the Yolo Interfaith Immigration Network, the City of Davis Human Relations Commission and the Davis Phoenix Coalition, promoting a world where all people are safe, respected and free from violence.

Community — Sandy Lynne Holman, director of the Davis-based Culture C.O.-O.P. (it stands for caring, optimistic, open-minded people) and United in Unity. 

“Some of her achievements include mentoring scores of youth who come from vulnerable populations and helping them realize their potential, and to have hope for a better future.”

She was pivotal in writing a grant and starting Yolo County’s Mentor Life Skills Center, matching adults with youths facing an array of challenges.

She instituted a national campaign called “We All Have a Heritage,” focusing on anti-bullying efforts, respect for diversity/differences, reading and the importance of literacy, and a quality education for all.

She played a key role in the first three years of organizing and coordinating Davis’ International Festival, 2011-13.

“Ms. Holman continually produces educational materials such as books, papers, guides and commentary, to educate people and promote respect for different cultural groups.”

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