From alligators and sea turtles in the Florida Keys to penguins in Antarctica, UC Davis veterinary medicine alum Dr. Doug Mader ’79, M.S. ’82, DVM ’86, Residency ’88 has spent nearly four decades caring for exotic animals and wildlife around the world.
It’s one thing to study microbiology. It’s another to apply that learning toward making an impact on the community through medicine.
Annie Wang followed similar logic when she applied to work in graphic design as a first-year at the University of California, Davis.
For Wang – who hails from Ottawa, ON, Canada – choosing UC Davis made sense because it simultaneously offered a supportive, relaxed environment and a rigorous microbiology program.
“I also really like the warm weather here,” Wang said.
Marking its 10th anniversary over Picnic Day weekend, the UC Davis community rallied for Give Day 2026 to celebrate a decade of impact. With nearly 4,500 donations made both online and in person, this year’s event raised almost $3.9 million. Since its launch in 2017, Give Day has raised more than $32 million from over 56,000 donors.
In his debut novel, author Jared Poon, Ph.D. ’14, imagines a Singapore where civil servants manage supernatural disturbances alongside the everyday work of government. City of Others is set in a modern metropolis populated by humans, spirits and creatures drawn from Southeast Asian folklore.
Supporting public education and opening doors for the next generation of students are top priorities for retired cardiologist Bob Blumberg ’67, a double UC alum who earned his bachelor’s degree from UC Davis and his medical degree from UC San Francisco in 1971.
Thanks to a charitable gift annuity (CGA), he can do exactly that. While receiving income from his gift, Blumberg has established a fund to provide undergraduate scholarships for first-generation students in the College of Biological Sciences.
Five years, dozens of wineries and countless toasts later, UC Davis’ Aggies Uncorked Alumni Wine Club is preparing to celebrate a major milestone this fall.
When Michelle “Grace” Nichols ’80 unwrapped a holiday gift from a friend—a UC Davis sweatshirt—she didn’t expect it to inspire plans for her retirement.
“Something just clicked,” Nichols recalled. “I received a full-tuition scholarship when I was a student, and I always meant to pay it back. That sweatshirt made me realize it was time.”
That impulse turned into action, thanks to what she calls her “$60,000 sweatshirt”—a playful nod to the modern-day cost of a UC Davis education and the gift she’s committed to paying forward.
At UC Davis, Kealani Kitaura ’12 found community and discovered the power of using art to honor heritage and history. Now she’s producing and starring in independent films that spotlight untold stories and spark meaningful conversations, one multiverse twist at a time.
