Support UHP

Supporting University Honors Program

The University Honors Program (UHP) at UC Davis provides students with an enriched undergraduate education through its interdisciplinary curriculum. Students work closely with distinguished faculty to create a vibrant community of scholars dedicated to pursuing academic excellence. UHP students are inspired to take intellectual risks, assume campus, community and global leadership roles, become agents of positive social change, and build and pursue inclusive excellence through critical and close partnerships with faculty, staff and their peers.

When you support the University Honors Program fund, you support all students within the college by creating opportunities to participate in research, internships, study abroad, mentorships, and field work.

Learn more about how you can support this effort .

Scholarships Support Stellar Students

In appreciation for the exceptional experience he received in the University Honors Program, Dr. Alexander Fisher (BA '92, Physiology) established the UC Davis Honors Opportunity Fund to provide students with an enriching undergraduate education.

Gifts will support the University Honors Program (UHP) to enable students to work closely with distinguished faculty to create a vibrant community of scholars dedicated to pursuing academic excellence. UHP students are inspired to take intellectual risks, assume campus, community, and global leadership roles, become agents of positive social change and build and pursue inclusive excellence through critical and close partnerships with faculty, staff, and their peers.

The University Honors Program provided Dr. Fisher with such an enriching and meaningful experience that he hopes his personal generosity will also inspire and motivate others to support this worthwhile program.

Naomi Murray '21 Awarded Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship

UHP student Naomi Murray has been awarded a Goldwater Scholarship, the nation’s premier undergraduate award in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering.

Murray is majoring in Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity, and plans to earn a PhD in Ecology. An active undergraduate researcher, she is already on the path to a career researching how trees affect community function and resilience, with the goal of minimizing the impacts of climate change.

Learn more about how you can support UHP's fund.

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From Undeclared to Prestigious Scholarship: A UC Davis Journey

Literary scholarship at the nexus of human rights and climate change has earned English major Jumana Esau ’20 a prestigious Gates Cambridge scholarship. The scholarship will fully fund Esau to earn her Master of Philosophy in Criticism and Culture at the University of Cambridge, where she plans to study climate fiction with the author Robert Macfarlane. Building on her undergraduate thesis, her research will focus on climate narratives written from the perspective of marginalized communities and developing countries.

Although she loved literature, Esau was undeclared in her first year. “I wanted to be an English major, but I was honestly afraid because everyone would ask what I was going to do, how I would get a job.” Taking classes with Professor Fran Dolan made the pull irresistible: “She made me love Shakespeare! ... I found myself signing up for everything she taught.”

Esau was admitted to the University Honors Program as a sophomore, where small classes helped her to find her voice, get involved, and set her on course to do research. She is writing her undergraduate thesis with Associate Professor Tobias Menely.

With Dolan's encouragement, and guidance from Prestigious Scholarships advisor Scott Palmer, she applied for the Gates Cambridge scholarship, becoming UC Davis's third recipient.

These incredible opportunities are only made possible with donor support from our passionate alumni and friends.