Awards

Former Gov. Gray Davis Awarded Chancellor’s Medal for Transformative Leadership in Bringing UC Merced to the Central Valley

February 24, 2026

UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sanchez Munoz and Governor Gray Davis pose with the Chancellor's Medal

At an intimate gathering of supporters, UC Merced awarded former Gov. Gray Davis the Chancellor’s Medal — the university’s highest honor — in recognition of his instrumental role in bringing the 10th University of California campus to Merced. The medal was presented...

UC Merced Earns Highest Rating for its Sustainability Efforts

For the first time, UC Merced has been awarded a Platinum rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements under the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (...

Palmer Headed for Capitol Hill as Campus’s First Congressional Science Fellow

UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow Hannah Palmer, Ph.D., was named as the 2022-23 Congressional Science Fellow by the Geological Society of America (GSA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS...

Modest’s Work in Radiative Heat Transfer Earns Prestigious Award

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Michael Modest has earned the 2021 Max Jakob Memorial Award, given by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Institute of Chemical...

Adjunct Professor Among Department of Energy Award Winners

Jennifer Pett-Ridge, an adjunct professor with the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and a researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has been honored by the Department of...

Academic Senate Recognizes Outstanding Faculty

Each year, faculty members recognize their colleagues in the Academic Senate for outstanding teaching, research and mentorship, impacts on their fields, and their dedication to diversity and...

Campus Awarded Edible Food Recovery Grant

UC Merced’s Office of Sustainability’s Bobcat Eats Food Waste Awareness and Prevention Program, in partnership with United Way of Merced, Community Initiatives 4 Collective...

Meza Honored for Scholarship, Contributions to Diversity

The Center for Minorities and People with Disabilities in IT (CMD-IT) announced Professor Juan C. Meza as the 2022 recipient of the Richard A. Tapia Achievement Award for Scientific Scholarship,...

Professor's Central Valley Film 'Letters2Maybe' Nominated for Major Award in Vienna

Ethnocineca, the International Documentary Film Festival Vienna, is featuring Professor Yehuda Sharim's latest feature-length film, "Letters2Maybe," this month. The eight-day...

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NEH Grant Awarded to UC Merced for Sierra Nevada-Central Valley Archive in Library

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded a $750,000 grant to the UC Merced Library in partnership with the Center for the Humanities to establish a research...