golden memories
n May 21, the College of Chemistry gathers to celebrate the achievements of our graduating students.
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The graduating class this year (students B.S. Chemistry—63 |
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I remember back in organic chemistry, when Professor Ahamindra Jain knew every single person’s name before the class started—almost 150 people! 
Taking Chem 120A opened my eyes to the beauty and possibility in physical quantum chemistry, and I’m going to graduate school now to follow that possibility. Also, I just wanted to say that Professor Richard Mathies is a Mack Daddy!
The professors were always
passionate about their students’ learning and advancement. Dr. Alex Bell, the professor who has influenced me the most, provided me with countless opportunities to prove and improve myself while working in his research group.
I’ve really enjoyed meeting grad students at Berkeley. They were always supportive about my research and always ready to have some fun. My lab mates were especially wonderful, and I doubt I’ll have another opportunity in the future to work with so many great friends. 
I remember thinking that peptide chemistry was hopelessly complicated (so many sidechains with
different functional groups!) and that research moved at a snail’s pace. And now my research is moving faster than I can keep up. I am starting to feel like a real scientist.
Commencement speaker: Charles Shank
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his year’s commencement speaker is Dr. Charles V. Shank, a renowned scientific leader and professor in the Departments of Chemistry, Physics, and Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. A co-author of over 200 publications, he leads a research group in the study of physical processes, such as energy storage and transfer in molecules and materials, that occur on a femtosecond time scale.
Dr. Shank obtained his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Following graduation in 1969, he became a member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where his interests shifted towards chemistry and physics. He studied ultrafast events and co-invented the distributed feedback laser, which led to advances in integrated optics and fiber optic communications. Dr. Shank held many leadership positions at Bell Labs, including Director of the Electronics Research Laboratory.
Dr. Shank came to the campus in 1989, serving as Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from September 1989 until August 2004. During his tenure the laboratory experienced impressive scientific growth, especially in the areas of astrophysics, supercomputing, genomics and nanoscience. He was the longest-serving director of any of the Department of Energy’s sixteen national labs.
Dr. Shank’s achievements have been recognized with awards such as the R.W. Wood Prize of the Optical Society of America, the David Sarnoff and Morris E. Leeds Awards of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Edgerton Award of the International Society for Optical Engineering, the John Scott Award of the city of Philadelphia, the Edward P. Longstreth Medal of the Franklin Society, and the George E. Pake Prize and the Arthur L. Schawlow Prize from the American Physical Society. In addition, he holds memberships in the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Optical Society of America.