Evan Miller with his students at the beginning of the fall semester, 2019. Photo courtesy Evan Miller.
The College of Chemistry is pleased to announce that UC Berkeley Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology Evan Miller (Ph.D. ’09, Chem) has been named a2020 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar. Faculty are chosen for this prestigious national award who are within the first five years of their academic careers, have created an outstanding independent body of scholarship, and are deeply committed to education.
Miller joined the College of Chemistry in 2013. His research is focused on the interface of synthetic chemistry, biology, and neuroscience to explore new chemical methodologies and their relationships between molecular identity and membrane potential in the brain and beyond.
Currently his lab is looking at membrane potential which is a unique biophysical property maintained by every cell on earth. The importance of membrane potential is widely recognized in the context of specialized organs like the brain and the heart. However, our understanding of the ways in which membrane potential, and its coordinated, rapid changes across large numbers of neurons, gives rise to cognition, sensation, and memory remains incomplete.
About the award
The Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program supports the research and teaching careers of talented young faculty in the chemical sciences who have created an independent body of outstanding scholarship and demonstrated a commitment to education.
The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, devoted to the advancement of the chemical sciences, was established in 1946 by chemist, inventor and businessman Camille Dreyfus in honor of his brother Henry. Since its inception in 1970, the teacher-scholar program has awarded almost $50 million to support emerging young leaders in the chemical sciences.