Alumni and Friends

First-Generation UC Davis Graduate Finds a Path to Flourish

After Javier Garcia, Ph.D. ’21 obtained his doctorate, walking into a room was different.

Having grown up in a farm-working community, Garcia said he was accustomed to being with people who had little more than a second or third-grade education, including his own parents.

“I would walk into spaces, knowing I’m the only person in this entire community who has a Ph.D. and being in that space made me think, ‘if I can do it, other people can also succeed on this education path.’” He said. “I felt hope.” 

Commencement Speaker Laura Lindenfeld’s Words of Wisdom

UC Davis Graduate Studies alumna Laura Lindenfeld, Ph.D. ’03 has dedicated her career to helping the public through science communication.

Lindenfeld is Dean of the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University, and Executive Director of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science—a center that is dedicated to helping scientists improve their communication skills using techniques from improvisational theater. She also was the commencement speaker for the Graduate Studies graduation ceremony on June 9, 2022.

Laura Lindenfeld to Deliver 2022 Graduate Studies Commencement Address

Alumna and communication researcher Laura Lindenfeld Ph.D. ’03 will return to UC Davis as the keynote speaker for the 2022 Graduate Studies Commencement on Thursday, June 9, at the University Credit Union Center.

Lindenfeld is the Dean of the School of Communication and Journalism and a professor of journalism at Stony Brook University, where she oversees a team of dedicated faculty and staff, including Pulitzer Prize winners, to educate and train the next generation of multimedia journalists and communication professionals.

Ringing in a New Era for Graduate Education

On April 8, a crowd of dozens of UC Davis supporters—alumni, faculty, staff and graduate students—all seated under a tent outside Walker Hall excitedly yelled out in unison, “Five, four, three, two, one!” 

With that, the sound of melodic clanking filled the air as members of the UC Davis and Graduate Studies community rang ceremonial bells to commemorate the grand opening of the Graduate Center at Walker Hall. 

Finding a Passion for Community Nutrition

Growing up as the oldest of five children in a single-parent home, Britt Loofbourrow, Ph.D. ’22 remembers a difficult decision her family had to make every month. 

“There were questions of, OK, what’s going to be the most important thing? Hot water, electricity, or food?” she recalls.

Her personal experience with food insecurity has not only inspired her doctoral research and degree in nutritional biology, but also her volunteerism with the Graduate Student Association Pantry and her future career.

A Long Walk to Freedom

Celebrating Black History Month is part of my daily practice of gratitude that honors the freedom fighters in history. That includes those within my family and their long walks to freedom that paved the way for my liberation. Their strength from extraordinary accomplishments empowers my work as a change agent, one that I cherish and preserve. My heritage has a profound legacy fighting for voting rights and calls me to continue working on critical issues today.

I Need More Cowbell: A History of Graduate Studies Bell Ringing Ceremony

A dull, metal-infused, quasi-melodic clanking reverberates off the walls of the Graduate Center at Walker Hall with an erratic rhythm. A smile spreads across UC Davis doctoral student Jackson Badger’s face as a small circle of his friends, family and lab mates applaud him. Badger’s shoulders drop as a deep exhale of relief washes over him. He knows that now, with the ringing of this bell, his doctoral degree at UC Davis is complete.