We have sad news of the passing of Mariel Vazquez on July 5th, 2026. We have lost a great friend and colleague. Mariel was a world class applied mathematician, and earned many recognitions for her notable contributions to mathematical biology. She was also a caring dedicated teacher and mentor who fought for opportunities and access to great education for all. In these difficult times we offer our condolences to her family and in particular to her husband, our colleague Javier Arsuaga, and their children.

We are proud to announce that Professor Sherman-Bennett was selected as a 2026-27 Hellman Fellow. This award provides support and encouragement for the research of promising Assistant Professors who exhibit potential for great distinction in their research.

We are sad to report the peaceful passing of Michael Kapovich on June 16th, 2026, after a long battle with cancer. Misha was an esteemed mathematician and a cherished colleague for 23 years. He will be missed. We offer our sincere condolences to Misha's family and in particular to his wife and our colleague Jennifer. Memories can be read and shared on his memorial site.

Read more about Michael Kapovich's life on the Math News website.

Continuity equations, also known as conservations laws, are differential equations relevant in a variety of contexts. The Navier Stokes equations are examples of continuity equations that describe how fluids move. They rest on assumptions such as Newton's second law, applied to liquids and gases. The equations involve quantities like velocity, pressure, density, viscosity, and external forces. In 2000, the Clay Mathematics Institute established seven \$1 million Millennium Prize Problems, one of them on Navier-Stokes equations. This Millenium problem asks for a proof deciding whether smooth, physically reasonable solutions always exist for Navier-Stokes equations in three dimensions. At issue is whether or not physically reasonable assumptions can nevertheless result in "blowups" where solutions become infinite.

In a recent article in Scientific American titled Humans and AI race to "blow up" math's toughest equations, Steve Shkoller describes a vision inspired by his observations of waves while surfing. Shkoller's vision goes beyond the formal constraints used by AI led searches for this type of phenomenon. It has been turned into mathematics in a lengthy paper posted on the arXiv. While the paper may not provide any examples relevant to the precise framework of the Navier-Stokes Millenium Prize, the key insight may yet turn out to be relevant. The article is an interesting glimpse into the different areas of this emerging research.

The College of Letters and Science has recognized Eugene Gorskiy for his success in mentoring students, both graduate and undergraduate, with the L&S Faculty award. The citation states: "Students describe Eugene Gorskiy as having exceptional abilities in mentoring students’ research as well as their professional development. All of his nominators describe his generosity in giving his time to students and in providing them with expert individualized mentoring. His wholehearted and unconditional support gives students the confidence they need to succeed, and his graduate students have an excellent record of placement thanks in part to the time and care that he devotes to them." Congratulations, Eugene!

Alex Wein has been named a 2026 Dean's Faculty Fellow in recognition of "demonstrated excellence in research, high achievement, and future promise." The honor involves a financial award to advance the Fellow's research that can be used anytime during his career at UC Davis. Fellows are appointed for three years and are expected to give a public lecture during the second year of their term. Congratulations to Alex!

Bruno Nachtergaele has been elected foreign member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science (Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten, or KVAB) alongside Ive Hermans (Johns Hopkins University), Luis Liz-Marzán (CIC biomaGUNE), and Valérie Trouet (University of Arizona) in recognition of their scientific excellence and impact. The KVAB promotes and rewards scholarship, science, and the arts. It prides itself on its own and its members strong cultural involvement. It is known for its Thinker's Programme, Energy Reflection Group, and Position Papers. Congratulations, Bruno!

We are sorry to share that Distinguished Professor Emeritus Craig Tracy passed away January 29, 2026. He was 80. Craig joined the Department as a Full Professor in 1984 and retired in 2021. He served as Department Chair from 1994 till 1998 and played a transformative role in creating the Department we know now. His extraordinarily fruitful collaboration with Harold Widom (1932-2021) had an indelible impact on Random Matrix Theory and its applications, most notably through their discovery of the Tracy-Widom distribution.

At the Tenth Triennial International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians (ICCM 2025), held in Shanghai, China from January 3-7, 2026, Roger Casals was awarded a best paper award for his Annals of Mathematics paper, "Infinitely Many Lagrangian Fillings," written jointly with Honghao Gao. The Award, a Gold Award in the Geometry and Topology category, honors "papers with innovative insights and significant impact in math research." Congratulations Roger!