Awards and rankings

Paul Gepts, distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, received the International Crop Science Award from the Crop Science Society of America. The award recognizes positive changes realized for crops at the international level with an emphasis on creativity and innovation.

Gepts, a renowned plant geneticist, has led many international projects and collaborations that focus on the domestication of the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris. In fact, more than 40 percent of his published research has involved an international co-authorship.

Congratulations to Plant Sciences students Saarah Kuzay and Abelina Jackson, who have been named 2020 Borlaug Graduate Scholars by the National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB).

Diane Beckles, associate professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, has been named an inaugural recipient of the Chancellor’s Fellowship for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Awarded by UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May and the Academic Senate, the fellowship recognizes faculty with an “abiding commitment to reducing opportunity gaps for underrepresented students and/or students from underserved communities.”

Dr. Fredrick Bliss, professor emeritus in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, was honored with the 2020 National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB) Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes distinguished long-term service to the plant breeding discipline through research, education, outreach, and leadership. The award will be presented at the 2021 NAPB annual meeting next summer.