For 30 years, the Society of Hellman Fellows has provided support to junior faculty across the University of California’s ten campuses. The fellowship program was created by Warren and Chris Hellman and their children, inspired by the experiences of Frances Hellman as she began her academic career. With an endowment of $125 million from the Hellman Fellows Fund, the program aims to assist promising assistant professors in fields ranging from arts and humanities to STEM.
Frances Hellman, now a professor of physics at UC Berkeley, described her early challenges: “I came into UC San Diego as an assistant professor in 1987 and had a certain level of startup funds, and spent those on getting my lab built,” she said. “I then went through this period of time almost all young faculty go through where you’ve used up your startup funds but you haven’t yet gotten the major funding you need to get tenure.”
The fellowship was first piloted at UC San Diego and UC Berkeley in 1995 before expanding throughout the entire system. According to former UCSF chancellor Michael Bishop, “Warren made it possible for many people who otherwise might not have made it to have thrived. Some of the things they [young faculty] were doing really stretched the boundaries of what I would consider academia in a way that I thought was admirable, terrific.”
In 2020, after 25 years supporting junior faculty, the Hellman family established an endowment to ensure continued funding for future generations.
University of California Provost Katherine Newman commented on its impact: “Hellman fellowships have been instrumental in supporting thousands of our junior faculty as they become leaders in their fields, shaping scholarship across the arts, medicine and sciences. 30 years on, we can see clearly the enormous impact of the Hellman family’s gift not only to UC, but to the nation. We are eternally grateful to the Hellmans and excited to witness the transformational research contributed by these fellows.”
Each awardee may receive up to $70,000 in support. Former recipients include Asmeret Asefaw Berhe at UC Merced who noted: “The Hellman award allowed my lab to collect essential preliminary data that we used to demonstrate the significance of our proposed work for a major federal grant. This kind of funding enables early career researchers to conduct foundational work that sets our research programs up for long-term success.” Berhe is now recognized nationally for her contributions in earth sciences.
Other notable alumni include Peidong Yang (UC Berkeley), Dan Choe (UC Davis), Steve Mahler (UC Irvine), Yvonne Chen (UCLA), Victoria Reyes (UC Riverside), Lei Liang (UC San Diego), Dr. Kirsten Bibbings-Domingo (UCSF), Michelle O’Malley (UC Santa Barbara), and Rebecca Covarrubias (UC Santa Cruz). These individuals have advanced research areas such as space exploration, addiction science, cancer therapies, music composition, educational equity, and more.
Information about recent fellows at each campus is available online:
– UC Berkeley
– UC Davis
– UCLA: A boost for early-career faculty
– UC Irvine: Eight UC Irvine faculty members named Hellman fellows
– UC Merced: Hellman fellowships welcome three new members from UC Merced
– UC Riverside: Early-career faculty win fellowships
– UC San Diego: Largest cohort in UC San Diego program’s history receives Hellman fellowships
– UC Santa Barbara: Bioengineering’s Marley Dewey named 2025 Hellmann Faculty fellow
