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Giving opportunities on each UC campus
In 2020, after 25 years of funding, the Hellman family endowed The Society of Hellman Fellows across the UC system to continue the Hellman Fellowship in perpetuity. Each campus manages their own endowment and works to raise funds from other individuals and foundations — expanding the Program’s capacity to make additional Fellowship awards through matching donations. New donors can create their own named fellowship, expanding the support for early career research at each University of California campus.
The ten UC campuses are routinely ranked among the best in the world, and faculty drive innovation across nearly every field of study relevant for the future wellbeing of our people and our planet. Donors to the Society of Hellman Fellows program not only transform the professional careers of promising faculty members, they advance scientific understanding, drive innovation, and influence future policy. The need for early career research funding for faculty is in huge need on each campus.
To learn more about becoming a donor for the Society of Hellman Fellows on any of the ten UC campuses, please contact your campus of interest to learn more about becoming a donor. Contact details provided below.
UC Berkeley
Please contact the UC Berkeley Office of Faculty, Equity & Welfare to learn more about the Society of Hellman Fellows giving opportunities.
Contact: Benjamin Hermalin, Vice Provost
vpf@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-6474
Some illustrations of UC Berkeley Hellman Fellows research and careers:
- Eva Harris is currently co-leading UC Berkeley’s study into the spread and mitigation of COVID-19.
- Peidong Yang was named one of the top 10 chemists of the decade in 2010.
- Ronald Rael created the protest art installation “Teeter-Totter Wall,” a series of pink seesaws at the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Daniela Kaufer is the Associate Dean of the Department of Integrative Biology.
UC Davis
Please contact the UC Davis Office of Academic Affairs to learn more about the Society of Hellman Fellows giving opportunities.
Contact: Philip Kass, Vice Provost
phkass@ucdavis.edu
(510) 752-2072
Some illustrations of UC Davis Hellman Fellows research and careers:
- Dan Choe, a human ecologist studying stress, self-regulation and resilience in low-income mothers and children, is the current co-investigator on a $2.7 million study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
- Frances Moore, a climate scientist, has received attention for her work that examines how social media can help capture data during flooding or other climate events.
- Alejandro Martinez, who is the 2020 recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, is an engineer studying soil-enabled renewable geothermal energy.
UC Irvine
Please contact the UC Irvine Office of Academic Personnel to learn more about the Society of Hellman Fellows giving opportunities.
Contact: Diane K. O’Dowd, Vice Provost
acadpers@uci.edu
(949) 824-7175
Some illustrations of UC Irvine Hellman Fellows research and careers:
- Glenda Flores currently serves as the Director of the Undergraduate Studies for the Chicano/Latino Studies Department, and her ethnographic investigation of Latina professionals, in particular Latina teachers, has been published and widely cited.
- Davin Phoenix is the author of the recently published book The Anger Gap: How Race Shapes Emotion in Politics.
- Steve Mahler, a neuroscientist studying the causes of opioid addiction, has been funded for over a decade by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
UCLA
Please contact the UCLA Office of Academic Personnel to learn more about the Society of Hellman Fellows giving opportunities.
Contact: Michael Levine, Vice Chancellor
mlevine@conet.ucla.edu
(310) 825-8675
Some illustrations of UCLA Hellman Fellows research and careers:
- Dr. Acabado is an anthropological archaeologist studying human-environment interactions. The recipient of multiple grants from the National Parks Service and others. Stephen Acabado’s research looks at the artificial constructs and ecological consequences of colonialism.
- Yvonne Chen is an Associate Professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, and her work on next generation T-cell therapies for cancer has been recognized by the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, the NSF CAREER Award, and the Cancer Research Institute, among others.
UC Merced
Please contact the UC Merced Office of Academic Personnel to learn more about the Society of Hellman Fellows giving opportunities.
Contact: Greg Camfield, Executive Vice Chancellor/Provost
provostevc@ucmerced.edu
(209) 228-4400
Some illustrations of UC Merced Hellman Fellows research and careers:
- Asmeret Berhe is the endowed Chair of Earth Sciences, an expert in soil biogeochemistry, and a noted TED Talk speaker.
- Anna Song is the current Director of the UC Merced Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center and author of the latest Surgeon General’s Report on Adolescent Tobacco Use.
- Jason Sexton is Associate Professor in the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, and his research focuses on how to manage ecosystems sustainably in the face of global change.
UC Riverside
Please contact the UC Riverside Office of the Provost and EVC to learn more about the Society of Hellman Fellows giving opportunities.
Daniel Jeske, Vice Provost
Daniel.Jeske@ucr.edu
(951) 827-2304
Some illustrations of UC Riverside Hellman Fellows research and careers:
- Jason Weems, now Chair of the Department of Art History.
- Victoria Reyes, a sociologist and author of Global Borderlands: Fantasy, Violence, and Empire in Subic Bay, Philippines.
- Juchen Guo, a Chemical Engineer and NSF CAREER award recipient.
- Quinn McFrederick, entomologist with bee conservation speciality.
UC San Diego
Please contact the UC Davis Office of Academic Affairs to learn more about the Society of Hellman Fellows giving opportunities.
Contact: Elizabeth H. Simmons, Executive Vice Chancellor
evc@ucsd.edu
(858) 534-3130
Some illustrations of UC San Diego Hellman Fellows research and careers:
- Lei Liang, composer, winner of the 2020 Grawemeyer Award, the top classical music honor often referred to as “the Nobel Prize for music.”
- Marta Serra-Garcia, an assistant professor focused on the growing field of behavioral economics.
- Danielle Raudenbush, sociologist and author of Healthcare Off the Books: Poverty, Illness and Strategies for Survival in an American City.
UCSF
Please contact the UCSF Office of the EVC and Provost to learn more about the Society of Hellman Fellows giving opportunities.
Contact: Dan Lowenstein, Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost
lowenstein@ucsf.edu
(415) 476-4451
Some illustrations of UCSF Hellman Fellows research and careers:
- Dr. Alicia Fernandez, a general internist at UCSF who has studied immigrant health and language barriers in medicine.
- Dr. Heather Fullerton, Director of the Pediatric Brain Center at Benioff Children’s Hospital.
- Dr. Kirsten Bibbings-Domingo, Endowed Chair of Medicine, Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and inaugural Vice Dean for Population Health and Health Inequity in the UCSF School of Medicine.
UC Santa Barbara
Please contact the UC Santa Barbara Office of Academic Affairs to learn more about the Society of Hellman Fellows giving opportunities.
Contact: Dana Mastro, Associate Vice Chancellor
Some illustrations of UC Santa Barbara Hellman Fellows research and careers:
- Michelle O’Malley, Chemical Engineer, recently named of the top 10 Scientists to Watch in 2019 and one of the former MIT Technology Review “35 Innovators Under 35”.
- Ty Vernon, Director of the Koegel Autism Center at UCSB.
- Martha Sprigge, a historical musicologist and expert on musical expressions of loss and grief.
- Cenke Xu, a condensed matter physicist and recent recipient of the prestigious 2019 Simons Investigator Award.
UC Santa Cruz
Please contact the UC Santa Cruz Office of Academic Affairs to learn more about the Society of Hellman Fellows giving opportunities.
Contact: Herbie Lee, Vice Provost
herbie@ucsc.edu
(831) 459-1349
Some illustrations of UC Santa Cruz Hellman Fellows research and careers:
- Mark Massoud, an expert in the rule of law, former Guggenheim and Carnegie Fellow, and the 2022 Evans-Pritchard lecturer at Oxford University.
- Eric Palkovacs, Coastal Ecologist.
- Rebecca Covarrubias, Social and Cultural Psychologist and Professor of Latin American Studies.
- Sylvanna Falcón, Director of the Research Center for the Americas, and founder of the UCSC Human Rights Lab.
We will be forever grateful to the Hellman family for this enduring, impactful program. With dwindling federal funding and a critical need for UC research, especially during the coronavirus era, this generous gift could not come at a better time.
Janet Napolitano
Former UC President