UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Diane Ullman Featured in 3-Part Video Series

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Diane Ullman of the Department of Entomology and Nematology is featured in a newly released three-part video series produced by the UC Davis Emeriti Association in its ongoing video project to preserve the history of UC Davis and celebrate its retired colleagues.

Ullman, an entomologist and artist who retired in 2024 after a 29-year career at UC Davis, discusses her teaching, research and administration in the hour-long video published on Aggie Video at https://tinyurl.com/ycynwwub.

Colleague Emily Meineke, assistant professor of urban landscape entomology, interviews her on her innoative and award-winning teaching career.  In a remote (Zoom) broadcast, research colleagues Professors Anna Whitfield and Dorith Rotenberg of North Carolina State University interview her about her internationally recognized research. UC Davis Professor Emerita Mary Delany, a former executive associate dean and interim dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and retired from the Department of Animal Science, chronicles her administrative duties in the college and department. 

In the introduction, Emeritus Association member Joanne Borkman noted that the organization has compiled more than 540 interviews for the video project since 1993.

“This interview is with Diane Ullman, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Entomology," Borkman began. "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."

Borkman said Ullman's 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 Student Fculty, as well as Honors Program classes and First-Year Seminars.   She is well known as the co-creator of the campuswide Art/Science Fusion Program and the co-founder of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) Career Discovery Groups Program.   Both programs continue to thrive, now under new leadership."

Ullman chaired the  Department of Entomology (now Entomology and Nematology) and served as associate dean of CA&ES for Undergraduate Academic Programs  Her many honors include Distinguished Teaching Award from the UC Davis Academic Senate;  National Excellence in Teaching Award from the Entomology Society of America (ESA); Fellow of ESA; and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (See her website)

As part of her involvement with the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program and her entomology classes fusing art with science, Ullman spearheaded more than 30 large-scale art ceramic-mosaic projects, including:

• "Oak Family Tree" on the public restroom at Peter Shields' Oak Grove
• "Nature's Gallery" in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden
• "A Bird's Eye View," California Raptor Center on Old Davis Road
• "The Secret Life of Vineyards" at the Matthiasson Winery on Dry Creek Road, Napa

Ullman related that her interactions with students inspired her and "I learned as much from them as I’m sure they learned from me."

She also mentioned the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion. "It does not matter what we call it but we really have to keep doing it," she told Meineke, adding that it's in an area "where creativity and problem-solving can flourish."

When asked what she would tell young faculty members just beginning their careers, Ullman said: "I'd tell the young faculty members: find something you feel passionate about and bring it into teaching.  At the heart of good teaching is that teaching has passion." (See more)

Alan Jackman and Mary Delany serve as the current co-chairs of the UC Davis Emeriti Association Video Project. "She (Diane Ullman) is the first entomology emeriti to be interviewed for awhile," Jackman commented in an email. "It is a somewhat unusual interview in that it has 3 parts with different interviewers..."  An alphabetical list of the interviewees is here.

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Diane Ullman speaking at the dedication of Nature's Gallery on June 9, 2012 in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.  (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)