Staff & Faculty News

For the First Time, All Avian Evolutionary Relationships Revealed Through Collaboration

April 29, 2025

Professor Emily Jane McTavish and colleagues at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have mapped the evolution of every known bird species. They created a complete evolutionary tree of bird species by combining data on 9,239 species published in nearly 300 studies between 1990 and 2024 and...

Campus Names New Dean for the School of Engineering

After a nationwide search, Rakesh Goel was selected as UC Merced’s next dean of the School of Engineering. Goel is a seasoned academic leader who currently serves as executive associate dean...

Professor Ashlie Martini has been awarded the Monya Lane and Robert Bryant Presidential Chair in Excellence in Engineering.

Martini Named to Excellence in Engineering Chair

Mechanical engineering Professor Ashlie Martini has been awarded the Monya Lane and Robert Bryant Presidential Chair in Excellence in Engineering. She is one of two women to be appointed to endowed...

UC Merced Professor Sarah Kurtz is seen in a photo.

Kurtz Appointed to Endowed Chair; Establishing New Electrical Engineering Major

Engineering Professor Sarah Kurtz has been awarded the Reno Ferrero Family Chair in Electrical Engineering, making her the second woman to hold an endowed chair in the School of Engineering....

UC Merced Vice Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer Delia Saenz

Delia Saenz Takes Reins of UC Merced's Equity, Justice and Inclusion Mission

Horses, cattle and other livestock dotted broad, flat ranchland as the rental car followed Highway 140 toward Catheys Valley. It was February 2022. Delia Saenz was seeing the San Joaquin Valley for...

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...

Mucus Molecules can Thwart Fungal Infection, Researchers Discover

An international team of researchers, including Professor Clarissa Nobile from UC Merced, has discovered which component in mucus prevents a fungus most humans carry from turning destructive....

Professor Li and his student research team

Bioengineers Work on New Technology to Look Deep Inside Living Tissue and Tumors

Bioengineering Professor Changqing Li is building a high-resolution CT imaging scanner that will allow scientists to study and understand how oxygen plays a role in cancer therapy and stem cells...

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