On October 19, UC Davis celebrated something fundamental to graduate education that too often goes unrecognized: the extraordinary work of mentorship.

The Distinguished Graduate and Postdoctoral Mentorship Award, conferred by Graduate Studies in partnership with the Graduate Council of the Academic Senate, recognizes faculty whose exceptional mentorship has made a lasting difference in the lives of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. 

Since 2017, 34 faculty members have received this singular, lifetime honor. Yet despite the significance of this distinction, the award and the faculty behind it had received relatively little public recognition. This year's Celebration of Distinguished Mentors set out to change that—and to establish an annual tradition worthy of the people it honors.

CBS Recipients of the Distinguished Graduate and Postdoctoral Mentorship Award

• 2023: Aldrin Gomes, Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior
• 2022: Thomas Hahn, Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior
• 2022: Wolf-Dietrich Heyer, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
• 2019: Brian Gaylord, Evolution and Ecology
• 2019: Graham Coop, Evolution and Ecology
• 2018: Jay Stachowicz, Evolution and Ecology
• 2017: Sharon Strauss, Evolution and Ecology
• 2017: Richard Grosberg, Evolution and Ecology

At the Frontier of Knowledge

Mentorship is at the heart of graduate education. Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars work at the frontiers of knowledge, often tackling questions for which there are no established answers. They learn how to conduct research alongside experienced scholars: developing ideas and methods, navigating setbacks, finding their scholarly voices, and learning what it means to contribute new knowledge to a field. 

While teaching and mentoring are closely related, mentoring involves a distinct craft: guiding learners through the uncertainties of discovery, helping them develop as independent scholars, and supporting their growth in ways that extend well beyond the formal curriculum. For many, a great mentor's influence lasts long after their training ends.

Yet mentorship is often invisible labor. Its impact can be profound without being easily measured, captured in a metric, or reflected on a CV. 

Recognizing the Impact of Outstanding Mentors

The Distinguished Graduate and Postdoctoral Mentorship Award was established to bring greater recognition to this essential dimension of graduate education—to honor the distinctive work of mentoring scholars at the frontiers of learning and research. 

Graduate Studies administers the award, with nominations reviewed by the Graduate Council Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar Welfare Committee, and recipients are recommended to the Dean of Graduate Studies for the award to be conferred on behalf of Graduate Studies.

The award carries meaningful support for the next generation of scholars, as well as recognition for their mentors. In recent years, faculty recipients have received $10,000 in Wakeham Mentoring Funds. Unlike a traditional teaching prize, the award directs these funds to students as designated by the honorees. 

Excellence Across Campus

The Celebration of Distinguished Mentors brought the mission of the award to life. The joyous gathering honored all 34 Distinguished Mentors, 18 of whom were able to attend. 

The honorees represented a broad cross-section of the university, spanning the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (9), the College of Biological Sciences (8), the College of Engineering (3), the College of Letters and Science (12), and the School of Medicine (3). Several college deans or associate deans joined the celebration, underscoring the university-wide importance of exceptional mentorship.

Many honorees were joined by family members, friends, colleagues, postdoctoral scholars, and students, whose evident delight in seeing them celebrated was a highlight of the evening. The honorees themselves were often more reticent, not entirely at ease in the spotlight even as those around them took joy in seeing their contributions lauded.

An Evening of Warmth and Celebration

The evening was emceed by Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Jean-Pierre Delplanque and featured remarks from Chancellor Gary S. May, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan, Vice Provost Philip Kass, and Maria Marco and Kyle Crabtree, past and present chairs of the Graduate Council Welfare Committee. As they recounted the ways mentors had shaped students' and postdoctoral scholars' experiences and futures, they also called out the names of the Distinguished Mentors whose work exemplifies this commitment.

Each honoree received a special commemorative pin and a plaque inscribed with the year of their award, a tangible recognition of a distinction that can be received only once in a faculty member's career. 

The warmth of the evening reflected something larger than individual accomplishments: a community coming together to recognize the people whose care, guidance, and commitment help make scholarship, and the next generation of scholars, possible.

Looking to the Future

With this year's celebration, Graduate Studies and the GradPathways Institute are renewing the university's commitment to making exceptional mentorship visible. An annual celebration will welcome new Distinguished Mentors into this community of honorees, ensuring that the award is not simply a distinction conferred, but a tradition of recognition sustained.

The call for nominations for the next Distinguished Graduate and Postdoctoral Mentorship Award has just opened. The university community is invited to nominate faculty whose exceptional mentorship deserves this once-in-a-career recognition. The next celebration will take place on May 17, 2027, when UC Davis will welcome its newest Distinguished Mentors.