Purpose
The purpose of the Advisory Board is to provide supportive leadership to develop and implement the College of Chemistry’s strategic objectives to increase our financial strength, fulfill our public mission (education, research & service), and enhance our academic excellence and worldwide reputation.
Strategic Objectives
The Advisory Board will focus on the following five strategic objectives:
- Student-Alumni Engagement: leverage our alumni community to enhance our student experience and employment in targeted companies and industries.
- Revenue Generation: generate greater revenue to ensure our College’s financial well-being through new continuing/executive education programs and the commercialization of intellectual property generated by our faculty.
- Development: prioritize and pursue resources to meet our College’s philanthropic priorities, including capital projects & facility upgrades, student scholarships & fellowships, faculty chairs, and core support of our College and degree programs.
- Reputation & Brand: enhance our reputation and brand to ensure we continue to be recognized and ranked as the very best in the world.
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: enhance diversity, equity and inclusion among our College’s students, faculty, staff, and greater community.
Advisory Board Chair
John H. Markels, Ph.D., President, Merck Vaccines
John became President of Global Vaccines at Merck in 2019. Merck holds a $7 billion vaccines business and is a global leader providing a broad portfolio of pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines to the world. John brings greater than 30 years of pharmaceutical experience to this role. Immediately preceding this appointment, John was Merck's President for Latin America.
Advisory Board Members
Shih Hung Chan, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Fuel Cell Center/Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yuan Ze University
Retired President, University Chair Professor and Far Eastern Energy Distinguished Professor of Yuan Ze University. Served as Taiwan Presidential Science adviser. Served as President of several energy organizations and associations. Served as a dean, Wisconsin Distinguished Professor, chairman, faculty and researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, New York University, Polytechnic University of New York and Argonne National Laboratory.
Sunney I. Chan, Ph.D. , CalTech, Emeritus George Grant Hoag Professor Biophysical Chemistry
Dr. Chan was an active faculty member at CalTech from 1963 to 2002. He has served on the Academic Sinica as vice-president and was Director of National Research Program of Genomic Medicine, National Science Council, Republic of China among his many prestigious appointments. His research group focuses on the structure and function of membrane proteins.
Rubber Chen, EngD, CEO of Pioneer Material Precision Tech (PMP Tech)
PMP Tech has been a leader in the research and manufacturing of high-tech elastomers and other rubber products for over 40 years. PMP Tech excels in the innovation of dissimilar materials, functional materials and the innovative surface treatment process. The company is also focused on global real estate investment.
Margaret Chu-Moyer, Ph.D., Vice President, Research, Amgen Inc.
Margaret leads a team of over a 100 scientists at Amgen, Inc. working on a variety of research projects devoted to creating lifesaving medicines, including projects focused on cancer, heart disease and more. Her teams are involved in the early stages of drug discovery which typically take three to five years work for a treatment to reach patient trials.
Ross Crockett
Ross Crockett is a College of Chemistry Chemical Engineering graduate class of 2014 and Berkeley Haas MBA graduate class of 2025. Ross is a ten-year pharmaceutical industry professional at Genentech where he has served as a plant engineer and technology transfer lead for the manufacture of a dozen biologic medicines spanning early clinical trials through commercial product launch at the South San Francisco headquarters. Ross currently serves as the Senior Principal Product Owner for the Roche enterprise process knowledge management software deployed at all Roche biologics manufacturing plants.
Rui Vogt Alves da Cruz, Vice-President of Dow Core R&D
Rui leads a global research and development team which drives the long-term R&D vision for Dow. Critical capabilities include High Throughput R&D, Computational Modeling, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Formulation & Material Science,Recruiting, Analytical, University and Government Relations and External Funding, Sustainability & Life Cycle Analysis, and Engineering & Process Sciences. Rui received the HENAAC Great Minds of STEM Professional Achievement Award in 2014 and the AIChE Management Division Young Leader Award in 2020.
Herbert H. Hooper, Ph.D., Managing General Partner, Ampersand Ventures
Herb joined Ampersand in 2002 with more than fifteen years experience working with Healthcare companies – first as an entrepreneur at Ampersand portfolio company ACLARA Biosciences, and later as an Ampersand Managing Partner. His current and past board seats include ACLARA, Bako, Signature Genomics and Viracor-IBT Laboratories.
Ted Hou, Ph.D., CEO at NEEM Scientific; General Partner, Berkeley Catalyst Fund
Ted is the Founder and CEO of NEEM Scientific, an early stage start-up company with core competence in creating novel nano materials. Efficient devices made from these materials can be used in consumer electronics, energy production, environmental protection, and healthcare. He has worked with large telecom, solar and energy companies in China. With Laura Smoliar and Drew Lanza, he founded the Berkeley Catalyst Fund, an incubator for entrepreneurial startups that will also give back to the College of Chemistry.
Stephen Isaacs, Ph.D., Chairman, President and CEO Aduro Biotech
Dr. Isaacs founded Aduro Biotech in 2008, a company focused on advancing leading-edge proprietary technologies that are designed to initiate and sustain the immune system to mobilize and attack tumors. Dr. Isaacs is an inventor with over 40 issued patents and has founded several other biotech companies. He concurrently sits on the Board of the UC Berkeley Foundation.
Yuan T. Lee, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate, UCB Professor Emeritus, Chemistry, President Emeritus Academia Sinica
Dr. Lee was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1986 and has been honored for his contribution to science by many nations. He holds Honorary Doctorates from 41 universities worldwide. Dr. Lee has been a professor at many institutions including: the University of Chicago; University of California, Berkeley; Honorary Professor at the National Taiwan University; and Distinguished Research Fellow at Academia Sinica. He also served as President of the Academia Sinica from 1994 to 2006.
Stefan Loren, Ph.D., Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking, Oppenheimer
Stefan Loren is a Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking at Oppenheimer. Stefan has over twenty years of experience advising life sciences companies. Prior to joining Oppenheimer, Stefan was a Managing Partner at Leap Day Capital. He has also worked at Perceptive Advisors, MTBIA, Westwicke Partners & Legg Mason. Stefan received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from UC Berkeley and an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from UC San Diego.
Gary M. Masada, Ph.D., Retired President and CIO, IT, ERTC Chevron Corporation
Gary joined Chevron as a research chemist in 1972. He held various technical positions at Chevron Research Co. until he transferred to Chevron U.S.A. operations and planning in 1978. Gary ultimately stepped into the role of President and CIO of ChevronTexaco's Information Technology Company in 2003 having previously been president of ChevronTexaco Energy Research and Technology Company.
Cynthia Murphy-Ortega, B.S., Manager, University Partnerships & Association Relations, Chevron Corporation
Cynthia currently manages Chevron’s relationships with universities and professional societies and institutes throughout the world. She joined Chevron in 1991 as an engineer with the Richmond Refinery in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has worked in various roles at Chevron including management of Chevron’s technical competency development programs and Organizational Capability Manager with the Process, Analytical and Catalysis department.
R. Andrew Ramelmeier, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Technical Operations & Manufacturing, Sangamo Therapeutics
Andy joined Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. in January 2018. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of Biologics Technical Operations at Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since 2014. He has 20 years experience with a strong foundation in the development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, including monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, enzymes and other therapeutic proteins. His technical expertise spans from cell culture and fermentation through purification, formulation and parenteral fill/finish.
Wayne Sackett, MBA, CEO, Estuary Biotherapeutics
Wayne is CEO and co-founder of Estuary Biotherapeutics, an early-stage biotechnology startup. Most recently, Wayne was at MyoKardia, where he joined in 2015 prior to MyoKardia’s IPO. At MyoKardia, Wayne held roles of increasing responsibility, culminating in his position as Head of Business Development and Corporate Strategy until Bristol Myers Squibb’s acquisition in 2020 of MyoKardia for $13.1 billion. Wayne has additionally served as a business advisor to early-stage companies, including Opus Genetics (NASDAQ: IRD) and Sardona Therapeutics. Wayne is an active volunteer with the Foundation Fighting Blindness and A Foundation Building Strength.
Bobby Sheng
Bio coming soon.
Ronald E. Silva, J.D, , President & CEO , Fillmore Capital Partners, LLC
Ron is the Chairman of the Board of the largest privately held long-term care company in the United States and serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Fillmore Capital Partners, LLC. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President of Lowe Enterprises, Inc. Prior to joining Lowe, he developed his early real estate and credit skills as a Vice President for Wells Fargo Bank. He serves as Chairman of the Board of AlixaRx, LLC.
Harmeet Singh, Ph.D., Corporate Vice President, Lam Research
Harmeet is currently Corporate Vice President at Lam Research, a leading supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the global semiconductor industry. He has held various positions at Lam Research since 2000 including roles in product development, process development, and productivity solutions. He is the holder of a number of patents.
Jovian Sun, MBA, Investment Director, Fosun Health Fund
Jovian has served as investment director of the venture capital investment department of Fosun Pharma, responsible for FOF investment in various regions covering the United States and Israel. With over 10 years of pharmaceutical and biotech investment experience, she has worked in different functions at Fosun Pharma including mergers and acquisitions, secondary market investment and business development.
Ellie Yi-Li Yieh, B.S., Vice President & General Manager, Applied Materials, Inc.
Ellie is Vice President for Advanced Product Technology Development at Applied Materials, Inc. She is responsible for the technical excellence of the company’s state-of-the-art Maydan Technology Center R&D lab. She joined Applied in 1989 as a process engineer in the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) group and has headed several successful product developments over her 20-plus years with the company. She holds over 100 semiconductor engineering patents.