IN THIS COLUMN
- Maisha Winn, School of Education
- Harris Lewin, College of Biological Sciences
- Custodial Services, Facilities Management
- Amy Oleynik, Student Affairs
- Joseph Villegas, Student Affairs
Professor Maisha Winn has been elected to the National Academy of Education, among 18 members of the class of 2023. The academy comprises U.S. members and international associates recognized for outstanding scholarship or leadership.
With her election, the School of Education now boasts two members of the academy, the other being Professor Michal Kurlaender, who was elected in 2020.
Members serve on study panels that address pressing issues in education and are also involved in the academy’s professional development fellowship programs.
Winn is a UC Davis graduate, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1994 (English major and African and African American studies minor). She received single-subject and multiple-subject teaching credentials from California State University, Sacramento, in 1995. She holds a Master of Arts degree and Ph.D. in language, literacy and culture, the M.A. from Stanford University and the doctorate from UC Berkeley.
She returned to UC Davis in 2016, joining the School of Education as a Chancellor’s Leadership Professor. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Transformative Justice in Education Center.
In her research, she examines the ways in which teachers and/or adult allies for youth in schools and in out-of-school contexts practice “justice” in the teaching of literacy.
Harris Lewin, distinguished professor emeritus of evolution and ecology, College of Biological Sciences, and former vice chancellor of research, has been named the recipient of a Beijing Science and Technology Award, specifically the Zhongguancun Award for International Cooperation, given by the municipal government of Beijing.
He will travel to China in November to receive the award and give lectures.
Lewin has been collaborating with Chinese scientists since his first visit to the country in 1995. He serves as an expert advisor to the Beijing-based China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, providing critical advice on the use of genomic information in biodiversity conservation.
Lewin is the co-founder and chair of the executive working group of the Earth BioGenome Project, an international effort to sequence the genomes of all eukaryotic life on Earth.
Custodial Services at UC Davis has become the first and only UC custodial team to achieve certification in the “green building with honors” program run by ISSA, originally known as the National Sanitary Supply Association and later the International Sanitary Supply Association.
“Cleaning Industry Management Standard-Green Building,” or CIMS-GB, demonstrates an organization’s capability to assist customers in achieving points toward LEED designation, referring to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a program of the U.S. Green Building Council.
Certification helps define the actions custodial staff take to reduce the level of chemical use, increase indoor air quality, improve the reuse of materials, minimize waste and more.
“Our campus’s participation in this rigorous program further supports our leadership in sustainability,” said David Swindle, training manager in Custodial Services, part of Facilities Management. “It demonstrates our commitment to healthier buildings that support occupant well-being.”
Read more in this article on the Facilities Management website.
UC Davis Orientation’s Amy Oleynik and Joseph Villegas recently earned an innovation award for their involvement in developing two programs: “Health, Wellness and You” and “Transfer Networking Time.”
Oleynik, lead orientation program coordinator, and Villegas, orientation program coordinator, received the Innovation in Transition Program Award at the Region II conference the Association for Orientation, Transition and Retention in Higher Education, also known as NODA, which originally stood for National Orientation Directors Association.
The award recognizes programs or unique approaches to challenging situations or specific campus needs.
Regional winners are automatically considered for national awards, to be given out at the national NODA conference, to be held this year in Minneapolis, Oct. 15-18.
Dateline UC Davis welcomes news of faculty and staff awards, for publication in Laurels. Send information to dateline@ucdavis.edu.
Media Resources
Dateline Staff: Dave Jones, editor, 530-752-6556, dateline@ucdavis.edu; Cody Kitaura, News and Media Relations specialist, 530-752-1932, kitaura@ucdavis.edu.