Remembering CAMPOS Faculty Director Mariel Vázquez

On Tuesday, October 27, members of the university community gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Professor Mariel Vázquez. Mariel Vázquez was a remarkable mathematician. She was also an accomplished molecular geneticist. She was a prolific scholar, author, and principal investigator. Many of us also knew her as the CAMPOS Faculty Director. 

Vázquez joined UC Davis in 2014 as a professor with a joint appointment in the departments of Mathematics and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. She was  selected as a member of the inaugural cohort of faculty scholars in the Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science (CAMPOS). Mariel and her fellow scholars became an active and visible group of faculty scientists who were deeply committed to empowering all undergraduate and graduate students to “envision themselves working and progressing in STEMM programs at UC Davis.”[1]

In 2016, Vázquez received the prestigious Blackwell-Tapia Prize. This distinction, awarded only every two years since 2002, honors the legacy of Drs. David Blackwell and Richard Tapia whose research contributions, dedicated mentoring, and energetic leadership of the mathematical sciences are a model and inspiration for future generations. It is an award that recognizes significant contributions in the recipient’s field of expertise and an exemplary record of mentorship. Just two years later, Mariel was also selected as an Inaugural Fellow by the Association for Women in Mathematics. This award recognizes members “who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to the support and advancement of women in the mathematical sciences.” 

Her receipt of these awards exemplifies Mariel’s commitment to creating the conditions for ambitious researchers to do exceptional work–both by advocating for changes to structural barriers within the institution and by engaging directly with and supporting talented scholars.

Mariel further put that belief into action when she succeeded Mary Lou de Leon Siantz as the CAMPOS Faculty Director in 2019. Inaugural associate vice chancellor and current law professor Raquel Aldana remembers this about Mariel:

Mariel served as the second Faculty Director of CAMPOS, and I had the honor of hiring her. Mariel’s dedication to CAMPOS faculty was unwavering and selfless. She worked hard to secure resources to support CAMPOS scholars, and she gave her time generously as a mentor, even after her cancer diagnosis. I got to know her more deeply during her illness. Even then, CAMPOS remained very important to her. She stayed as Director and organized talks with purpose. She graciously worked hard to ensure a successful transition for CAMPOS. I marveled at her strength and enduring commitment. I miss Mariel dearly. In her final years, she gifted me a friendship that touched me deeply. She was funny and spiritual and loved art and nature. She adored her family. And with all that was happening in her life, she always found ways to focus outward, to marvel at life and be in community with friends. 

Support of CAMPOS faculty focuses on their research programs “in order to increase their research productivity and leadership potential as principal investigators, laboratory managers, and future leaders in academia.”[2] Like the broader NSF grant which it grew out of, CAMPOS works towards transforming the institution by promoting diverse perspectives to improve the quality of science. Importantly, the leaders of CAMPOS also stressed the importance of retaining one’s full identity–experiences, culture, and perspectives–as part of being a successful scientist, not simply fitting into an institution with exclusionary histories. One can see in Aldana’s words how Mariel perfectly embodied that vision for CAMPOS.

Since her selection as a CAMPOS scholar more than a decade ago, 53 more exceptional researchers, teachers, and mentors have been selected as CAMPOS scholars. Madeline Nieves-Cintron, an associate professor of Pharmacology, expressed well how many of the CAMPOS faculty under her leadership felt: 

She was more than a mentor; she was a steady source of support and genuine care for so many of us, especially the junior faculty whose careers she helped shape with patience and encouragement. Her commitment to the success of the CAMPOS cohorts was unwavering, and countless people are better for having had her in their corner. She had a rare gift for making people feel seen, believed in, and capable of more than they imagined for themselves.

Her empathy was not performative; it was woven into everything she did, from the quiet check-ins to the tireless advocacy she offered without ever asking for recognition. That kind of generosity leaves a lasting imprint, and it will continue to shape the paths of those she touched for years to come.

She will be deeply missed, and her legacy of kindness and mentorship will live on in all of us she helped along the way.

Indeed, in 2024, Mariel received the Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Honorary Service. In conferring the award on her Chancellor Gary May noted that “As CAMPOS Faculty Director, she has established a bridge with the administration to best advocate for the needs of the faculty. Her scientific success and her understanding of issues faced by women and faculty of color in academia placed her in an ideal position to provide the type of leadership and service that makes meaningful differences in the careers of her colleagues.”

One of those colleagues, Fernanda S. Valdovinos, associate professor in Environmental Science & Policy and 2019 CAMPOS Faculty Scholar shared her remembrance:

Mariel created a genuinely welcoming sense of community through CAMPOS during the pandemic, which was especially meaningful as I moved cross-country to begin my new position at UC Davis. The Zoom gatherings were invaluable during my first year, when opportunities to meet colleagues in person were limited. She also supported me as a mentor through my LAUNCH Committee. Her warmth, generosity, and leadership made CAMPOS a community I will always treasure. Mariel will be deeply missed, and her legacy will remain with us.

One of the most recent awards Mariel received, and one that held special importance to her, was the ADVANCE Scholar Award. This recognition, also a part of the NSF ADVANCE grant and first awarded in 2016, is intended to encourage research, leadership, and outreach to underserved communities and/or mentorship of underrepresented students, while also highlighting and celebrating the contributions that mid-career STEMM faculty at UC Davis have made to their fields through outstanding scholarship. It is another example of how Mariel believed that the very best research was a consequence of allowing anyone with a curious mind to pursue their interests. 

In honor of Mariel's vast record of accomplishment and effort she put into helping others achieve their best at UC Davis, Inclusive Excellence has renamed the award, the Mariel Vázquez Advance Scholar Award.

Mariel had a profound impact on everyone around her, including the staff who supported her work as CAMPOS Faculty Director. Thomas O’Donnell, who worked with Mariel from the start of her tenure as director expressed enormous gratitude for the respect she had for her staff colleagues and desire to view them as partners in their mutual work. “She was also incredibly detail-oriented,” O’Donnell smiles as he recalls working with Mariel. “One came prepared for meetings with Mariel: prepared to be productive, prepared to provide clear and accurate updates, and prepared to know that the work mattered to her–always–so doing things the right way was the only way. That never came at the expense, however, of connecting with you on a personal level and asking about your own interests or weekend plans. She was as warm as she was driven.”

Mariel is survived by her husband, Javier Arsuaga, their children Eithne and Cedric Arsuaga-Vázquez, her parents Maria Elena and Rolando Antonio, brother David (Rosalba) and family, sister-in-law Begoña (Mark), and a host of beloved cousins, aunts, and uncles.  She is dearly missed by all who knew her.

The community is invited to show their appreciation of Mariel’s impact on science and society through donations to the Mariel Vazquez Endowment for Undergraduate Research at the UC Davis Give website for the College of Biological Sciences.

We encourage you to read more about Mariel’s remarkable academic accomplishments, such as her recent selection as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), from her colleagues in the College of Biological Sciences and College of Letters & Science.

[1] Mary Lou de Leon Siantz and Lisceth Brazil-Cruz, “Seeing Self: The CAMPOS Model,” in Uprooting Bias in the Academy, Lessons from the Field, eds. Linda F. Bisson, Laura Grindstaff, Lisceth Brazil-Cruz, Sophie J. Barbu (Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2022), 160. Open access text available at: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-85668-7.

[2] de Leon Siantz and Brazil-Cruz, “Seeing Self,” 161.