Linda J. Childress

 

"Because of her conscientious and painstaking work, the experiences of literally hundreds of foreign leaders and scholars [visiting the U.S.] have been enriched."

 

Sherry L. Mueller

President

National Council for International Visitors

Washington, D.C.

 

 

Linda Childress served University of California, Davis, for 38 years, and for 35 of those years, she was director of the International Agricultural Visitors Program in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Childress has been the "face of the college" for thousands of international visitors and has served as the colleges' linkage to over 60 U.S. and international agencies -- including the United Nations Development Program; Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations; World Bank; and the World Health Organization. She worked with numerous local agencies, including the California Rice Commission and California Citrus Board. She hosted dignitaries from 56 countries around the world, ranging from Afghanistan to Yugoslavia. Childress was a member of the Sacramento Council for International Visitors; the U.S. Department of State - Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture - International Cooperation and Development. She received the "Outstanding University Programmer Award" in 2002 from the National Council for International Visitors.

 

Calvin M. Dooley

"Cal is widely respected in Congress for his intellect and integrity. He is well known as a champion for agricultural research and education."

Dennis Cardoza
18th District, California
Congress of the United States
Washington, D.C.

Congressman Calvin Dooley, a fourth-generation San Joaquin Valley farmer and partner in Dooley Farms of the Hanford-Visalia area, is serving his seventh term as a member of Congress, representing California's 20th District. He serves on the House of Representatives' Committee on Agriculture and Resources and is a ranking minority member on the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry. Dooley is a co-founder and Executive Council board member of the New Democrat Coalition. Congressional Quarterly, a nonpartisan news organization covering Congress, named him one of 23 influential "House Power Players" in 2001. Dooley received the Washington International Trade Foundation's prestigious Distinguished Service Award for leadership. Dooley graduated from Hanford High School and earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics in 1977 from the University of California, Davis. In 1987, as a Sloan Fellow, he earned a master's in management from Stanford University.

 

John S. Fiddyment

"[John Fiddyment's generous gifts] will enhance the quality of our research and our campus life." 

Celeste E. Rose
Vice Chancellor, University Relations
UC Davis

John Fiddyment, who attended a two-year program in animal husbandry at UC Davis, is the retired owner of Fiddyment Ranches -- a cattle ranch and agricultural enterprise. His prominent Placer County pioneer family has farmed in the Roseville/Lincoln area for almost 140 years. He is past president of the Boy Scouts Golden Empire Council, past board chair of the Sacramento YMCA, and was a UC Davis Foundation Board of Trustees from 1989-1995. Fiddyment is a UC Davis Shields Society member, UC Davis Chancellor's Club member and DCC Fellow. His generous contributions have assisted in the construction of the chancellor's residence, established a chair in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, and contributed toward the John and Joan Fiddyment and the Clauss Family Environmental Chemistry Laboratory that will house researchers from the Tahoe Research Group and from around the world focusing on ecosystem management. The new center will work to solve environmental problems at Lake Tahoe and create a freshwater lake preservation model for worldwide application.

 

Robert R. Granados

"Dr. Granados has established an excellent reputation as a scientist.and also as one of the leading international experts in his field." 

Wendell Roelofs
Professor and Chair
Department of Entomology
Cornell University

Robert Grandos earned a B.S. in entomology and parasitology from UC Davis in 1960. He received his M.S. in 1962 and Ph.D. in 1964 in entomology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He began his career at Cornell University's Bruce Thompson Institute in 1964 as an assistant entomologist. In 1988, he was named Charles E. Palm Distinguished Scientist and Virologist and adjunct professor in Cornell's Department of Entomology. His research is in the area of insect pathology with particular emphasis in insect virology and insect tissue culture. Granados has published more than 133 publications in journals plus 16 book chapters; published or edited three books; has 26 foreign patents and 15 U.S. patents issued or pending. He has served in many leadership positions in national and international scientific societies, received numerous awards from scientific organizations, and served on scientific advisory boards for industry and government panels. He was named an American Academy of Microbiology Fellow in 1997 and an Entomological Society of America Fellow in 1999.

 

Daniel K. Macon

"Dan knows more about conservation easements and how to speak about easements with ranchers and farmers than any other person in the county."

Joanne Neft
Director, Placer County
Agricultural Marketing Program
Auburn, California

Daniel Macon graduated from UC Davis in 1989 with a degree in agriculture and managerial economics. He began his career with the California Cattlemen's Association -- responsible for Quality Assurance education, public land grazing, endangered species issues and marketing. He was later appointed executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition -- responsible for program development and management. In 1988, he was appointed executive director of the California Rangeland Trust and, concurrently served as executive coordinator of the High Sierra Resource Conservation, which provides oversight for resource conservation and economic development. Macon is a California Agricultural Leadership Program graduate and served as president of the California-Pacific Section of the Society for Range Management, president of the Central Sierra Cluster of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and served as a member of numerous agricultural committees, advisory councils and development boards, including ones associated with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

 

Pamela G. Marrone

"Dr. Marrone is a strong and vocal advocate for research and teaching programs at UC, especially those focusing on biotechnology, the biological sciences and agricultural sustainability."

W. R. Gomes
Vice President
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Oakland, California

Pamela Marrone, an international expert in agricultural biotechnology and bioscience, is president and CEO of AgraQuest, Inc., a biotechnology firm she founded in Davis in eight years ago. She received her B.S. in entomology from Cornell University and Ph.D. in entomology from North Carolina State University. Marrone began her career as senior group leader for Monsanto's Insect Biotechnology Group in St. Louis and was then recruited by Novo Nordisk in 1990 to come to Davis to head its biotechnology start-up company, Entotech, Inc. She founded AgraQuest in 1995. Marrone has distinguished herself as a leader, innovator and spokesperson for the agricultural biotechnology sector and a champion of the public research university. With her encouragement and support, AgraQuest has funded collaborative research at UC, looked to university labs and field stations for new discoveries and applications in the sciences, and participated in technology transfer projects with UC Davis and other campuses. She recognizes the important role our college plays in educating and training tomorrow's scientists and business leaders.

 

David "Mas" Masumoto

".I am greatly impressed by the contributions he has made to deepening the understanding of food, agriculture and farm families."

Richard E. Rominger
Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture

A third generation farmer, David "Mas" Masumoto and his father grow peaches, grapes and raisins on their 80-acre farm south of Fresno. He is a columnist for the Fresno Bee and has written for USA Today and the Los Angeles Times. He authored several books, including Four Seasons in Five Senses; Things Worth Savoring; Harvest Son; Planting Roots in American Soil; and Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm. Masumoto received the James Clavell Japanese American National Literacy award in 1986. In 1995, Epitaph for the Peach won the Julia Child Cookbook Award in Literacy Food Writing category and was a finalist for the 1996 James Beard Foundation Food Writing Award. It received the San Francisco Review of Books Critics' Choice Award in 1995-96. Masumoto serves on boards for the Irvine Foundation, the California Council for Humanities, California Tree Fruit Agreement Research Board, Raisin Advisory Committee Research Board and the California Association of Family Farmers. Masumoto received a B.S. from UC Berkeley and M.S. in community development from UC Davis.

 

Robert G. Mondavi

"Robert Mondavi may truly be said to be a leading American icon in the whole world of wine and food."

Robert Lawrence Balzer
Author
Wine Master

When Robert Mondavi established the Robert Mondavi Winery in 1965, it was the first winery built in the Napa Valley after the repeal of Prohibition. He had a vision that California could make wine of high quality -- good enough to stand in the company of the worlds best wines. Over the next 30 years, his name became one of the most recognized in fine wines. In the mid-1980's, Mondavi began an effort to ensure that wine was seen as an integral part of a temperate and civilized life. He was one of the first vintners to incorporate a culinary kitchen in his winery, emphasizing the importance of wine as a mealtime beverage, and the pairing of food and wine. Mondavi created strategic partnerships with prominent families in France, Italy, Chile and Australia. He has been a visible and valuable spokesperson for the Napa Vintners Auction, which raised an estimated $40 million for Napa charities over the past decade. Generous gifts also have been made to COPIA, the Napa Opera, and UC Davis -- naming the Robert and Margrit Center for the Performing Arts and establishing the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.

 

Calvin O. Qualset

"Dr. Qualset has been one of the most productive agricultural scientists in the world [during] the past 40 years. He has made tremendous contributions in the areas of international research and development."

Ronald P. Cantrell
Director General
International Rice Research Institute
Metro Manila, The Philippines

Professor emeritus Calvin Qualset twice served as chair of the Department of Agronomy and Range Science, chair of the Graduate Group in Genetics, acting director of the Foundation Seed and Plant Materials Services and associate dean of the college. He trained 26 Ph.D. students and 24 M.S. students during his career and hosted 37 postdoctoral and visiting scientists from 33 countries. Qualset's research emphasized genetics and breeding of cereal crops -- most notably wheat, triticale and oats. He taught graduate and undergraduates courses in genetics, plant breeding, genetic resource conservation and crop production. A recipient of two Fulbright Fellowships, he studied and lectured in Australia and Yugoslavia. He served as president of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America. In 2002, he received the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology's Charles Black Award and the Missouri Botanical Garden's William Brown Award. Qualset formally retired in 1994 and today serves as director of the UC Genetic Resources Conservation Program.