Letter from the Editor, Winter 2026
Gentle reader, you are reading the second issue of our new quarterly newsletter! As you may have noticed, the format of our newsletter has changed. We have retired our annual printed newsletter and hope you are enjoying our new digital quarterly newsletter. We encourage you to comment and make suggestions, especially since we are still working on the format of the digital newsletter and eager to improve. And, as always, we love to hear from past alumni!
Picnic Day, a long standing UC Davis tradition, will be celebrated on April 18th this year, and we would love to see you there! Students, parents, staff, and alumni will flock to our campus to celebrate all things UC Davis. There will be whizzy science shows, child oriented events, and opportunities to milk cows and goats. Tucked away in the quiet MSB courtyard, the Department of Mathematics will provide opportunities to solve math puzzles and engage in math-oriented activities.
Much has happened since we communicated with you in the Fall.
We continue to see changes in the way we engage in our teaching and research activities. We are grateful to Korana Burke, Edward Tavernetti, Rohit Thomas, and Anna Zarkh for leading a work group concerning new accessibility requirements pertaining to materials posted on the internet. These weekly meetings have been delving deep into making sure course material and research are available in formats everyone can use.
In addition, our faculty have been recognized with several honors: Junxian Li was chosen as a Hellman Fellow; Laura Starkston was awarded a Chancellor's Fellowship; Roger Casals won a Gold Award at the ICCM 2025; and Bruno Nachtergaele was elected foreign member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts (KVAB).
In more somber news, times change and we must say goodbye to a dear friend and colleague: Craig Tracy passed away. I encourage you to read about his life and achievements by clicking on the link below.
In this newsletter, I would like to draw your attention to the following items: