Every year, the University Honors Program invites students to nominate UC Davis and UHP faculty for Outstanding Teaching and Faculty Mentorship awards. These are our 2024 winners.

Outstanding Mentorship Award: Dr. Payam Vahmani, Department of Animal Science.  

The University Honors Program provides students with the opportunity to connect with faculty and develop mentor relationships that often shape their undergraduate careers. The UHP Outstanding Mentorship Award seeks to acknowledge the dedication of faculty in being a guiding force for undergraduate students during this crucial period of academic and professional development. Faculty receiving this award have provided excellent mentorship by being responsive, accessible, helpful, and impactful.

This year’s award recipient is Dr. Payam Vahmani, an Animal Science faculty member in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Science. The student who nominated Dr. Payam Vahmani has been mentored by this faculty member for one year. This student stated the following about their mentor: 

“This professor is one of the most incredible people I know. When I was still looking for a mentor in Spring 23, I took his class and discovered him to be a phenomenal lecturer. From there, we talked about what a project in his lab would look like. I had been rejected by other faculty members due to being a junior, but he was the one that gave me a chance to shine. He entrusted me with the cell culture lab left to me by a grad student and I was able to learn an insane amount of techniques and procedures. His support enabled me to work on multiple projects of high importance, become a better professional and network around campus. He believes in me when I doubt myself, so much so that he is sending me to present my research at a conference in Oklahoma City in June. Moreover, I will be continuing my work with him during a Master's program here. Words cannot express how grateful I am for his guidance, but I hope I was able to convey why he deserves this award.”

Outstanding Teaching Award: Dr. Darrin Martin, Department of Art and Art History. 

One of the most unique aspects of the University Honors Program are the innovative, discussion-based, honors courses. UHP students have the opportunity to engage with their professors and peers through these honors classes in a way they may not be able to in a large, lecture-style course. The UHP Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching recognizes a professor nominated by students for being an inspirational and engaging part of the honors experience.

The 2024 Faculty Awardee for Outstanding Teaching is Dr. Darrin Martin, a faculty member in the Department of Art and Art History in the College of Letters and Science. The professor awarded was chosen by students for their dedication to education and interacting with students. The nominating student had this to say about Dr. Martin:

“This professor is the most patient and encouraging professor I've ever had. He'd always motivate his students to submit their creative work to festivals and provide the most careful responses to each project. The honors program class I've taken with him (ART 113 Creative visualizations of science) opened my eyes to how the world of art and science can interact. I've since been inspired to think more openly about how science can be turned into a work of art, and how art can become an augmentation of science.”