This interview is with Diane Ullman, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Entomology. After starting her career at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu in 1987, she accepted an appointment as Professor of Entomology at UC Davis in 1995. She retired in 2024.
Her research focused on the role of insects in transmitting viruses to plants and development of management strategies for insect-transmitted diseases. She taught several core courses in Entomology, courses cross-listed with the Department of Plant Pathology, where she was a member of the graduate faculty, as well as Honors Program classes and First Year Seminars. She is well known as the co-creator of the campus-wide Art/Science Fusion program and the co-founder of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Career Discovery Groups Program. Both programs continue to thrive, now under new leadership.
Diane served as Chair of the Department of Entomology and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Programs in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. She has received many honors including the Citation for Distinguished Teaching from the Davis Division of the Academic Senate and the National Excellence in Teaching Award from the Entomology Society of America. In 2011 she was named a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America and in 2014 she was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
To encompass the diverse aspects of her career this video has three segments. Emily Meineke, Assistant Professor of Urban Landscape Entomology, interviews her regarding teaching. Then, via a remote interview, her long-term colleagues Anna Whitfield and Dorith Rotenberg discuss Professor Ullman’s research and graduate mentoring. Finally, Mary Delany, Professor Emerita of Animal Science interviews her regarding her involvement in campus administration.
