The Hellman Fellows Program, which has been so generous to early-career faculty at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis and its sister campuses, today (June 23) announced a new, permanent way of funding the fellowships.
MEET 4 OF OUR FELLOWS
- Amber Boydstun, Department of Political Science
- Daniel Ewon Choe, Department of Human Ecology
- Alejandro Martinez, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Frances C. Moore, Department of Environmental Science and Policy
Instead of making annual gifts, as in the past, the program will provide endowments to all 10 campuses, including $6 million for 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis. Each campus will draw upon its fund for the annual fellowships that are available in all disciplines.
With the new endowments, the Hellman Fellows Program will have invested $125 million in early-career faculty at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 since San Francisco philanthropists Chris and Warren Hellman started the program in 1995. 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis became a beneficiary in 2008, receiving more than $3 million over 12 years in support of 148 fellows, generally 10 to 12 annually.
The donors had two simple requests of each recipient: Have lunch with Warren Hellman and submit a one-half-page summary of their research and biography. Since Hellman鈥檚 death in 2011, the fellows have had lunch with the program officer from the Hellman family foundation, according to Lynn Daum, executive analyst in 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Academic Affairs, who has been involved in the program since the campus became a participant.
The new endowments launch a new tradition, with the Hellman Fellows Program and 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 agreeing to set up a Society of Hellman Fellows across the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 system.
鈥榃e are honored stewards鈥
新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Academic Affairs administered the campus鈥檚 Hellman Fellows Program when it received annual allocations, and will continue to administer it with endowment funding. Philip Kass, vice provost of Academic Affairs, said: 鈥淲e are honored to be stewards of the Hellman family鈥檚 endowment, which will keep this program going in perpetuity at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis.鈥
Shaun Keister, vice chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations, said the Hellman family鈥檚 generosity elevates research across 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis. 鈥淭hrough these fellowships, early-career faculty in the arts and humanities, social sciences and STEM have greater freedom to create, investigate and advance knowledge in their fields,鈥 he said.
By creating endowments at each 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 location, the Hellman Fellows Program gives flexibility to each campus in how the awards are directed and managed, building on the program鈥檚 tradition of local control while honoring the intent of the founders.
In addition, 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis and the other campuses will have the flexibility to solicit additional or matching gifts so that each 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 can add to the number of Hellman fellowships over time.
Fellows 鈥榗ontinue to inspire鈥
BY THE NUMBERS
- 1,872 鈥 Grant recipients since 1995
- 47% 鈥 Hellman Fellows who identify as female
- 60 鈥 Percentage of Hellman Fellows in STEM fields
- 40 鈥 Percentage of Hellman Fellows in the arts, humanities and social sciences
- 7 鈥 Hellman Fellows who have gone on to win MacArthur Genius Grants
- 125-plus 鈥 Former Hellman Fellows known to be conducting COVID-19 research
鈥淢y parents ... used to say that creating the Hellman Fellows Program was one of the best things our family ever did,鈥 said Frances Hellman, president of the Hellman Fellows Fund. 鈥淗aving had the opportunity to support over 1,900 faculty over the years, I enthusiastically agree.鈥
She said Hellman Fellows鈥 discoveries, their commitment to their work, and their great potential 鈥渃ontinue to inspire us year after year.鈥
鈥淲e are thrilled to be carrying on our father鈥檚 legacy by ensuring that the Hellman Fellows Program can exist in perpetuity throughout the University of California system,鈥 said Hellman, a member of the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Berkeley physics faculty since 2005.
It was Frances Hellman who inspired the program, when she was an early-career faculty member at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 San Diego. The program made its first awards to a handful of faculty on the San Diego and Berkeley campuses, and grew organically over the years to include all 10 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 campuses and four private institutions.
鈥業ncredible public spirit鈥
新澳门六合彩内幕信息 President Janet Napolitano described the Hellman Fellows Program as having 鈥渋ncredible public spirit鈥 and said the new endowments will support 鈥測et another generation of outstanding scholars and scientists whose careers, achievements and breakthrough research will benefit California and the world.鈥
鈥淲e will be forever grateful to the Hellman family for this enduring, impactful program.鈥
The gift could not have come at a better time, Napolitano said, in light of dwindling federal funding and a critical need for 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 research, especially during the coronavirus era.
Federal funding for academic research has been flat or declining for the past decade, and for the fourth straight year the Trump administration has proposed deep cuts to science research. Funding for academic research is especially critical now to address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related economic and social concerns.
At least 125 former Hellman Fellows are involved in groundbreaking COVID-19-related research. Former award recipients include engineers working to convert sleep apnea machines into ventilators, epidemiologists studying the origins and spread of the disease, statisticians designing optimal surveillance approaches to help curtail the spread of the virus, and scientists examining societal changes in violence due to the progression of the coronavirus.
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