College of Chemistry - University of California at Berkeley

Origins
Chemistry has been offered by the University of California since its founding in 1868, and the College of Chemistry was created as a unit within the University in 1872. It was housed along with the other sciences in South Hall, the first building to be completed on the Berkeley campus. In 1890 a handsome brick building was constructed for the College on what is now the site of Hildebrand Hall. In time it came to be known as "The Old Chemistry Building," and when it finally fell to the wrecker's ball to make room for more modern facilities in 1966, its cupola was preserved. The cupola now decorates the chemistry plaza.

The individual who was largely responsible for the College's rise to fame was Gilbert Newton Lewis, who became Dean in 1912 and served until 1941. During those years the number of undergraduate degrees awarded annually grew from an average of seven to more than sixty, and the number of Ph.D.s from one per year to more than a dozen. The faculty also grew—both in numbers and distinction. Lewis' recruits included Wendell M. Latimer, Joel H. Hildebrand, and Kenneth Pitzer, as well as future Nobel Prize winners William F. Giauque, Willard F. Libby, Melvin Calvin, and Glenn T. Seaborg. Known particularly for its work in physical chemistry, the College also developed a reputation in nuclear chemistry, especially after the development of the cyclotron and the Radiation Laboratory under the leadership of physicist Ernest Lawrence.

To accommodate the growth in faculty and students, the College acquired several other buildings in the Lewis years: the Chemistry Auditorium (built in 1913 and razed in 1959 to make way for Latimer Hall); the Freshman Chemistry Laboratory (built in 1915 and razed in 1962 to clear the site for the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall, renamed George C. Pimentel Hall in 1994); the Chemistry Annex, more popularly known as the "Rat House" (also built in 1915 and razed to clear the site for Hildebrand Hall in 1966); and Gilman Hall (built in 1917).

The post-World War II years were a period of expansion and rebuilding: organic chemistry was strengthened, and chemical engineering became a bona fide program in 1945. By 1947 Professors Hanson, Tobias, Vermeulen, and Wilke had joined the faculty as chemical engineers, and the Ph.D. program was approved. In 1957, Chemical Engineering was established as a separate department within the College of Chemistry. Lewis Hall was built in 1948 as postwar enrollments soared. Although enrollments declined somewhat during the 1950s, they rose sharply again in the 1960s and continued rising throughout the 1970s, leveling off in the 1980s and rising again in the 1990s. Much of the increase was the result of growth in chemical engineering to include such new technologies as processing of electronic devices and biochemical engineering. Several fields were added in chemistry, as well—notably structural biology, synthetic chemistry, and chemical physics. In addition, the organic and inorganic groups and the theoretical groups were further strengthened.

New facilities for modern research and teaching were also added: Giauque Hall (the Low Temperature Laboratory) in 1954 (renovated in the 1980s for Nobel laureate Yuan T. Lee), Latimer Hall in 1962, Hildebrand Hall in 1966, Tan Kah Kee Hall, in 1991 (which provided much needed modern laboratory space for three chemistry and nine chemical engineering research groups), and, most recently, research and office space in the new Stanley Hall, opening in 2007.