The mission of UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry is to advance society through education and research. The world is changing, and the chemical sciences must change with it — resource scarcity, climate change and population growth are forcing us to develop more efficient ways of meeting our needs. The next generation of chemists and chemical engineers will confront these issues every day in their work.
In the college, our goal is to give our students the scientific understanding and technical skills they will need for these tasks. The college’s two branches, the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) and the Department of Chemistry, maintain a balanced approach that emphasizes both fundamental and applied studies.
Since 1872, the Department of Chemistry has produced many highly regarded leaders in the traditional fields of analytical, inorganic, organic, physical and theoretical chemistry. The faculty also explores the frontiers of knowledge in diverse areas like biophysical, nuclear, materials and atmospheric chemistry; and in the burgeoning fields of chemical biology and nanoscience.
The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, founded in 1946, has established leading research programs in thermodynamics, surface catalysis, electrochemical modeling and separation processes. The faculty conducts promising research in biochemical engineering, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, and the development of polymer, optical and semiconductor materials.
College faculty members and students frequently participate in multidisciplinary collaborations with researchers from other Berkeley departments, universities, national laboratories and private industry. The remarkable breadth and depth of resources available to College of Chemistry students equips them with an intellectual mastery of the latest and most powerful scientific and engineering tools.
The National Research Council ranked the Department of Chemistry’s graduate program first-place overall in its 2010 national rankings. The CBE graduate program was ranked second in the nation by US News & World Report in 2011.
| CHEMISTRY | CBE |
| 1. Berkeley | 1. MIT |
| 2. Harvard | 2. Berkeley |
| 3. U. of Illinois | 3.Stanford |
| 4. Caltech | 4. Caltech |
| 5. MIT | 4. U. of Minnesota |
College faculty and alumni have been awarded thirteen Nobel Prizes in Chemistry.
| FACULTY | |
| 1949 | William F. Giauque (B.S.'20, Ph.D '22) |
| 1951 | Glenn T. Seaborg (Ph.D.'37) |
| 1961 | Melvin Calvin |
| 1986 | Yuan T. Lee (Ph.D.'65) |
| ALUMNI | |
| 1934 | Harold C. Urey (Ph.D.'23) |
| 1960 | Willard F. Libby (B.S.'31, Ph.D.'33) |
| 1973 | Geoffrey Wilkinson (Postdoc '50) |
| 1983 | Henry Taube (B.S.'35, Ph.D.'40) |
| 1989 | Thomas Cech (Ph.D.'75) |
| 1995 | Mario Molina (Ph.D.'72) |
| 1996 | Robert F. Curl, Jr. (Ph.D.'57) |
| 1999 | Ahmed Zewail (Postdoc'74) |
| 2002 | Kurt Wüthrich (Postdoc '67) |
CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING
| Full Professors* | 16 |
| Associate Professors | 2 |
| Assistant Professors | 3 |
| Adjunct Professors | 2 |
| Lecturers | 3 |
CHEMISTRY
| Full Professors* | 49 |
| Associate Professors | 5 |
| Assistant Professors | 8 |
| Lecturers | 3 |
HONORS HELD BY CURRENT FACULTY**
| National Medals of Science | 5 |
| National Academy of Engineering | 10 |
| National Academy of Sciences | 26 |
| American Academy of Arts & Sciences | 32 |
| Distinguished Teaching Awards | 9 |
*includes Professors of the Graduate School
**includes active emeriti professors
The college complex is a small city unto itself — six buildings that operate 24 hours a day. Undergraduates hurry between teaching labs and classrooms. Grad students and postdocs drop in at the NMR, spectroscopy and crystallography facilities. Skilled glassblowers, machinists and electricians refine equipment for labs. Faculty members consult with their lab groups and monitor experiments. Nearby, college researchers have access to numerous specialized labs on campus and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Particle accelerators, high-energy x-ray light sources and a nanoscale research and fabrication center are a short distance away.
Together with LBNL, the Department of Energy and private sector partners, the college has helped create the world’s most advanced cluster of research centers on biofuels and artificial photosynthesis, providing even more research and employment opportunities for our students.
MAJORS, 2011-2012
CHEMISTRY |
CHEM E. |
CHEM BIO |
|
| Undergraduates | 181 |
401 |
242 |
| Graduates | 366 |
124 |
— |
| Postdocs | 132 |
35 |
— |
DEGREES AWARDED, 2011-2012
CHEMISTRY |
CHEM E. |
CHEM BIO |
|
| Bachelor of Science | 56 |
99 |
72 |
| Bachelor of Arts | 7 |
— |
— |
| Master of Science | 9 |
21 |
— |
| Doctor of Philosophy | 52 |
15 |
— |
UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES
GRADUATE DEGREES
INNOVATIVE CURRICULUM
In tandem with the physical renovation of our undergraduate teaching laboratories, the college is updating our undergraduate curriculum to reflect 21st century challenges and opportunities. Our new undergraduate laboratory curriculum highlights safety and sustainability.
We are proud to offer an expanding scope of chemical engineering, chemical biology and chemistry education, including a suite of courses related to energy as well as a program in executive education in sustainability. We are ensuring that the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley provides cutting-edge learning that captivates students and fully educates them to pursue successful professions in the chemical, chemical engineering and biomedical sciences.
eCHEM PROJECT
The college has developed an exciting online course that enables undergraduates to study general chemistry in an energizing, interactive and flexible online format. The course fully covers the content of Berkeley’s 3-unit introductory chemistry course for nonmajors, Chem 1A.
BERKELEY CENTER FOR GREEN CHEMISTRY (BCGC)
Entering its third year, BCGC is leading a novel, cross disciplinary effort to advance green chemistry through collaborative scholarship. BCGC consists of faculty, researchers and students in the College of Chemistry and other schools and colleges at UC Berkeley.
As industry plays an ever-increasing role in support of public universities, the College of Chemistry welcomes opportunities for partnership. We know that forward thinking companies are committed to investing in education as the best way to ensure that public universities will continue to produce the talent of tomorrow. The college values collaborative relationships with corporate and organizational funders. Corporate partners give support through unrestricted college or departmental gifts, fellowships, scholarships, named lectures and programs. Additionally, corporate ties are strengthened through recruiting and sponsorship of research groups via contracts and grants.
With state funding of UC reduced to 11 percent of operating expenses, Berkeley must rely on private support to fulfill its public mission. The college is deeply grateful to its donors for their ongoing generosity.
SOURCES OF PRIVATE FUNDS
20010-2011 (in millions)
| Individuals | $4.14 (73%) |
| Private foundations/non-profit organizations | $.73 (13%) |
| Corporations/corporate foundations | $.80 (14%) |
| Total | $5.67 |
ALLOCATION OF PRIVATE FUNDS
2010-2011 (in millions)
| OPERATING | ENDOWMENT | |
| Research | $1.53 (36%) | $0.14 (10%) |
| Chairs/Professorships | $1.02 (73%) | |
| Student Support | $0.37 (9%) | $0.22 (16%) |
| Unrestricted | $1.95 (45%) | $0.02 (1%) |
| Capital | $0.42 (10%) | |
| Subtotal | $4.27 (100%) | $1.40 (100%) |
| Total (operating & endowment) | $5.67 |
FUNDING PRIORITIES
For information about giving to the college, click here, or contact:
Mindy Rex, Assistant Dean
College Relations and Development
510-642-9506, rex@berkeley.edu