On April 29, 2023, the life of Davis and University Honors Program student Karim Majdi Abou Najm was taken in Sycamore Park. Along with his family, the Davis community mourns the loss of Karim and his beautiful and joyful life. Karim’s family, friends and community are joining together to create two opportunities to commemorate and celebrate his life.  The first is a specially designed art bench in Davis to celebrate and memorialize Karim’s life.  The second is an undergraduate research fund at UC Davis.  See the article below for details and ways to support both projects.  

The art bench memorial will be located in Sycamore Park. Our goal is to raise $30,000 by August 31, 2023, to support the design, construction and landscaping of the memorial, which will be created this fall in accordance with the wishes of Karim’s family and the City of Davis requirements. Donations of all sizes are welcome. Checks may be made to the Davis Phoenix Coalition and mailed to P.O. Box 1902, Davis, California 95617. Online donations are being accepted at davisphoenixco.org/donate. Please reference Karim Memorial with your payment.  For more information, please contact Susan Lovenburg at 530.304.6360 or susan.lovenburg@gmail.com. Your gift will honor Karim’s life, comfort his family, and create a lasting space for contemplation and reflection in the park.

The Karim Majdi Abou Najm Memorial Undergraduate Student Research Award will provide stipends to support undergraduate UC Davis students doing research. It is reflective of the research work that Karim did as an undergraduate student at UCD. For his short journey with us, he accomplished a lot. He took pride in helping others from lessons he learned through his studies and work. He mentored undergraduate computer science students and on-boarded student researchers to Dr. Lee Miller's Lab at UC Davis. He always gave a shoutout to his colleagues and supported them in finding opportunities on-campus and beyond.  In collaboration with Dr. Miller and UHP peer Lara Ibraheem, Karim founded the UC Davis student startup Cornische.  It is a networking and payment platform with the goal of connecting faculty leading funded studies with undergraduate research students. Their goal: to promote and maintain student talent in academia. This endowment, the Karim Majdi Abou Najm Memorial Undergraduate Student Research Award, is a continuation of that work and will exist in perpetuity.

Donation links are attached below.