“Just like in a honey bee colony, it takes a team to win an award.”

So commented UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal, recipient of the UC Davis Academic Senate’s 2024 Faculty Distinguished Research Award, when he delivered his seminar at the Academic Senate’s recent research award lecture luncheon in the UC Davis Conference Center.

It was a gathering of scientific giants.

Five UC Davis distinguished professors, all members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS),  recently gathered at the home of UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal, newly elected member of NAS, to congratulate him, to orient him to NAS, to recommend committee memberships and to detail how the NAS election works.

Picture perfect!

Ceremonies recently took place to celebrate faculty who received the highly competitive UC Davis Academic Senate awards, and staff who received the inaugural Chancellor's Outstanding Staff Awards. Among the recipients:

UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and former professor and chair of the Department of Entomology, is a newly elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), becoming the second UC Davis entomologist selected for “one of the highest honosr a scientist can achieve.”

The saying, “Good things come in threes,” or “Omne trium perfectum,” rings true.

The UC Davis Academic Senate today announced that UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and former professor and chair of the Department of Entomology, is the recipient of the Faculty Distinguished Research Award.