As we introduce our newest class of Chancellor’s Fellows, let’s take a look back at the program’s first 15 years:

• 98 fellows — By definition, early-career faculty members, associate professors or having recently advanced to full professor. See a list of all fellows, 2000-01 to 2014-15.
• $2.45 million — Donor funds given to the Chancellor’s Fellows, $25,000 each, to help them advance their research projects and other scholarly work to a point where the fellows can hopefully win larger grants.
• $528 million — How much our faculty members have received in grants and awards, after being named Chancellor’s Fellows.

“What a wonderful return on investment,” said Shaun Keister, vice chancellor of Development and Alumni Relations. “We can’t thank our donors enough for supporting a program that pays off in such a big way for UC Davis.”

Chancellor’s Fellows funding comes from the UC Davis Annual Fund and the UC Davis Special Giving Fund. See all of our Giving opportunities.

“The success of our Chancellor’s Fellows over the last 15 years demonstrates in a very tangible way the impact that philanthropic support is having on advancing the stellar research of our early-career faculty members,” Keister said. “We are pleased that we can connect donors to support these young faculty members who are doing tremendous work for not just our university, but for the betterment of our world."

Here is the newest fellow from the College of Biological Sciences:

Karen Zito, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, College of Biological Sciences — Described by reviewers as an “imaginative and energetic” scientist and a leader in her field, Zito studies how the connections within the brain are formed during development, molded by sensory experience and altered by disease. Her work focuses on dendritic spines, tiny but dynamic protrusions that extend from nerve cells, forming connections with other nerves. Her research could ultimately have implications for understanding neurological disorders, both developmental and those caused by disease. Zito teaches in the department’s core undergraduate curriculum and also offers specialty graduate and undergraduate courses. She has mentored several underrepresented undergraduates in her laboratory through the Biology Undergraduate Scholars Program. Zito earned her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, Bloomington; Ph.D. from UC Berkeley; and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory before joining the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience in 2006.