The University of California, Davis, Cal Aggie Alumni Association has announced the recipients of its 2026 Alumni Awards, honoring exceptional alumni and friends whose leadership, innovation and service have strengthened communities locally and around the world.

This year’s honorees are advancing global health, driving business innovation, championing equity and transforming the future of science and food systems. Across industries and continents, they pair professional excellence with a deep commitment to UC Davis — expanding opportunity and shaping a better future for all.

Among the honorees are two veterinary school faculty members who received the Emil M. Mrak International Impact Award: Woutrina Smith, DVM ’01, MPVM ’01, Ph.D. ’04, and Brian Bird, Ph.D. ’08, DVM ’09.

Smith and Bird are internationally recognized leaders in infectious disease research whose careers reflect the global vision and collaborative spirit that define UC Davis’ enduring impact on health, science and humanity.

Woutrina Smith and Brian Bird

As alumni and now faculty leaders at the UC Davis Joan and Sanford I. Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, Smith and Bird have dedicated their professional lives to strengthening health systems worldwide. Their work advances science while building lasting international partnerships grounded in trust, training and shared leadership.

A three-time UC Davis graduate, Smith serves as associate dean for Global Programs and executive director of the UC Davis One Health Institute. Her research and educational collaborations span Africa, Asia and the Americas, where she leads multidisciplinary teams addressing infectious disease transmission, food and water security, and the connections between climate change and public health.

Smith recently directed a $60 million USAID initiative partnering with more than 100 universities across 17 low- and middle-income countries to train more than 60,000 professionals on the One Health approach, strengthening global health security through locally led solutions.

Bird earned his Ph.D. and DVM at UC Davis after training at Johns Hopkins University in public health and service as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan. He went on to serve as a veterinary medical officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deploying to multiple hemorrhagic fever outbreak responses across Africa. In 2014-16, Bird helped lead the CDC’s field laboratory for Ebola disease detection in partnership with the Ministry of Health in Sierra Leone during what became the largest Ebola epidemic in history.

Today, he is director of the UC Davis One Health Institute Laboratory, where his team is working to advance a vaccine candidate into human clinical trials for Rift Valley fever, a devastating disease of animals and people across Africa. Using other One Health approaches like strengthening disease detection in wildlife and increasing public awareness, his group works to reduce the impact of emerging diseases globally.

As married partners and longtime research collaborators, Smith and Bird exemplify the power of science without borders. Through research, education and enduring international partnerships, they have advanced solutions that help safeguard communities around the world.

Read about other honorees here.