For the next five years, the following five UC Davis professors can officially title themselves as a Chancellor’s Fellow — Chen-Nee Chuah of electrical and computer engineering; Carolyn de la Peña of American studies; Christopher Knittel of economics; Sergey Savrasov of physics; and Henning Stahlberg of the molecular and cellular biology department.

These faculty members received chancellor fellow honors for demonstrating excellence in their teaching, research and public service activities.

Each fellow will receive $25,000 to further their teaching and research activities. Funds for the fellowships come from private contributions to the UC Davis Annual Fund and the Davis Chancellor’s Club.

The new fellows will be honored in the presence of past fellows at a ceremony on March 2 at the chancellor’s residence.

Following are brief descriptions of the 2008-2009 recipients:

Chen-Nee Chuah, associate professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering — “Professor Chuah is, in every way, a perfect role model for all faculty members in our department, (and) a great mentor to students,” wrote professor and chair of the department of electrical and computer engineering Richard Kiehl.

Kiehl also noted that Chuah was a “world class expert” in her research on information technology, and that her performance in the short six years that she has been at UC Davis has been “nothing short of spectacular.”

Chuah’s collaborative, interdisciplinary research explores computer networking with emerging societal-scale applications, as well as security and privacy issues and underlying hardware technologies.

Carolyn de la Peña, associate professor, American Studies Program — Professor Jay Mechling of the American Studies Program described de la Peña as a “triple threat” faculty member who demonstrates excellence at research, teaching and service.

De la Peña’s research is on American material culture, with a focus on the cultural uses and meanings of technology. She is also director of the Davis Humanities Institute.

“She embodies all the best qualities of a UC Davis faculty member, and she has accomplished this within a very short time, a sign of the intelligence, energy, discipline and collegiality she brings to her work every day,” Mechling wrote.

Christopher Knittel, associate professor, Department of Economics — Knittel’s microeconomic research is on a range of topics including industrial economics, energy economics, transportation, and credit markets. Steven M. Sheffrin, economics professor and former dean in the social sciences division, described Knittel’s studies in so many areas as “extraordinary” and “rare for a young scholar.”

Sheffrin also noted Knittel’s popularity among both graduate and undergraduate students.

“Chris is a dedicated and highly popular teacher. Across a diverse set of courses, his overall evaluations are among the strongest in the department,” he wrote.

Knittel has lent his expertise on energy prices to several media outlets including The New York Times, NBC Nightly News, and ABC World News.

Sergey Savrasov, associate professor, Department of Physics — Chair of the department of physics Shirley Chiang described Savrasov as a world leader in his research on condensed matter physics and electronic structure theory.

“Dr. Savrasov is an innovative condensed matter theoretical physicist who is a leader in the development of new theoretical methods. His work has brought increased visibility and stature to the Department of Physics,” she wrote.

She also described his teaching record at the undergraduate and graduate level as “excellent.”

Savrasov also serves as a referee for numerous scientific journals, and has served as a reviewer for proposals to the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Petroleum Research Fund.

Henning Stahlberg, associate professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology — Stahlberg’s research on electron crystallography led him to organize the first International Electron Crystallography Workshop for UC Davis in 2006. It has since become a nationally and internationally recognized research program, bringing in experts from around the world.

He also played an instrumental role in the construction of the campus’s only laboratory for electron cryomicroscopy.

In nominating Stahlberg, Michael Dahmus and Judy Callis, chair and vice-chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, wrote, “In large part as a result of his efforts, UC Davis is now recognized internationally as having a first class faculty in structural biology. He has put us on the map.”

Danai Sakutukwa is a News Service intern.