A department chair, a program lead and more are included in this week’s edition of Org Chart — read on to find more information.

Dateline UC Davis welcomes news of appointments of various kinds for faculty and staff, for publication in Org Chart (formerly titled Transitions). Send information to dateline@ucdavis.edu.

Electrical and Computer Engineering chair

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has announced Professor Saif Islam as its new chair, effective Jan. 1. He succeeds Distinguished Professor André Knoesen.

This marks the second time Islam has served as the department's chair, having previously served from 2017 to 2020. He is excited to apply the lessons learned from his first term to further the department's potential as a national leader for electrical and computer engineering, particularly in meeting the challenges set forth by the CHIPS and Science Act, which seeks to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing in America by $50 billion.

Student Health and Counseling Services interim executive director

Paul Kim, who has served as director of Counseling Services in Student Health and Counseling Services, or SHCS, since March 2019, has taken on the role of interim executive director of Student Health and Counseling Services, effective Oct. 14. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Pablo Reguerín made the announcement on Oct. 11.

Kim succeeds Margaret Trout, who will be starting a new journey at the University of Oregon as associate vice president and executive director of University Health Services. Her last day at UC Davis will be Dec. 6. 

As interim executive director, Kim will continue to uphold the primary SHCS goals of supporting student access to community services, promoting staff satisfaction and retention, and ensuring the effectiveness of the resources that are offered. 

Kim joined Counseling Services in 2009 as one of the founding counselors in its Community Advising Network, or CAN. Working with the Cross Cultural Center and the Department of Asian American Studies, he helped to provide mental health care to students and improved access for students of historically underrepresented communities. In 2014, Kim became the director of multicultural services and provided oversight of the CAN program.

Before joining UC Davis, Kim spent five years at Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga as coordinator of Asian Pacific American Student Programs, a retention center for which he advocated for as a student leader. He received a bachelor's degree in liberal studies in 1999 and a master's degree in counseling in 2003, both from Saint Mary's, before earning his doctorate in clinical psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley in 2008.

Later this quarter, Vice Chancellor Reguerín will launch a recruitment to fill the post on a permanent basis.   

— Julie Huang

Research and Teaching Animal Care Program associate director

The Office of Research has announced the appointment of Betty Ma as associate director of the Research and Teaching Animal Care Program, effective Sept. 16. Ma will serve as the director of Campus Veterinary Services as well as the director of the Traditional Laboratory Animal Medicine Residency Program.

Ma will facilitate management and strategic harmonization of the distributed operations of over 1 million square feet of animal holding operational space at over 50 different vivaria. She will report to Rhonda Oates, associate vice chancellor for the Research and Teaching Animal Care Program.

The UC Davis Animal Care Program is one of the largest in the nation in size, number of species and diversity of research programs. Campus Veterinary Services provides veterinary care for spontaneous disease, research related disease and research support to the majority of the research and teaching animals within the UC Davis Research and Teaching Animal Care Program.

Strawberry Breeding Program director

Mitchell Feldmann, an assistant professor and genetics researcher, is the new director of the Strawberry Breeding Program, an internationally recognized public program that has released more than 70 patented cultivars over its storied history.

The program in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis has been breeding strawberry varieties since the 1930s and is instrumental in providing climate, disease and pest resilient cultivars for the $2.97 billion industry that is among the top ten crops in California in terms of sales.

Feldmann, who earned his Ph.D. at UC Davis in 2020 and became an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences in 2023, will oversee a staff of more than 20, ranging from high school interns to undergraduates and graduate students to postdoctoral researchers and professional scientists. He is assuming the new role following the retirement of Distinguished Professor Steven Knapp, who served as director of the program since 2015, after decades working in academia and industry. 

“Mitchell Feldmann is an accomplished scientist who knows strawberries and has already contributed greatly to the Strawberry Breeding Program,” said Helene Dillard, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “We’re excited to see him advance and expand upon the exceptional foundation that Steve cultivated. This is an important resource for the public, industry and growers.” 

Public Scholarship and Engagement faculty advisor

Associate Professor Clare Cannon, Department of Human Ecology, has been appointed as faculty advisor to Michael Rios, vice provost for public scholarship in the Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement. The one-year appointment recognizes Cannon’s leadership and expertise in fostering community engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Cannon has partnered with communities, regulators and local governments across California on research that investigates the intersection of environmental injustice and health. One recent project, called California Community Air, is building community capacity to identify and analyze hazardous air pollutants in Sacramento, the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego.

In the role of faculty advisor, Cannon will spearhead the planning and development of a faculty liaison program for the Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement. The program will aim to provide direct faculty support to colleges, schools, and departments through one-on-one consultations, workshops on the merit and promotion process, and collaboration with departments that seek evaluation guidelines for public scholarship. Additionally, Cannon will guide faculty in finding resources for engaged research and teaching that involves collaborative and reciprocal partnerships between the university and an external community.

First-Generation Initiative faculty lead

Undergraduate Education recently named Associate Professor of Teaching Jeanette B. Ruiz to lead the First-Generation Initiative into its next phase.

Ruiz, an associate professor of teaching for the Department of Communication in the College of Letters and Science, seeks to broaden resources to first-generation faculty at UC Davis with quarterly workshops, journal clubs focused on research and teaching first-generation students, a spring first-generation forum and more.

“This is an opportunity to help empower faculty as better teachers, mentors and champions for our students' success,” Ruiz said. “As first-gen faculty, we have the unique opportunity to share our own struggles with students, creating a sense of community across all first-gen experiences — whether with undergraduates or graduate students. We’re always first-gen, and by connecting through these shared challenges, we can foster deeper understanding and support for one another.”