This article appeared in Catalyst Magazine, Spring 2025
Born in Pennsylvania, Colin Gould received a Bachelor of Science from Brown University in 2015. He pursued graduate studies at UC Berkeley in Professor Jeff Long's group and worked as a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow in Professor Dave MacMillan's lab at Princeton University. Colin returns to Berkeley in July as an assistant professor of chemistry, where he aims to utilize physical stimuli— including light, electricity, and magnetic interactions—to enable new methods for pharmaceutical and fine chemical synthesis. Outside the lab, Colin is passionate about teaching and science outreach, particularly at the K–12 level.
College of Chemistry: Describe the moment you realized you'd be dedicating your life to science. Why did you choose academia to further that dedication?
Colin Gould: My parents are both chemists, so I grew up surrounded by science. My dad, a professor, would build experiments in our basement—giant bubble makers, electromagnets, colorful flames—and then bring them to local schools or libraries to teach science lessons to kids. These early experiences ignited my curiosity and showed me how science can explain the world around us—decades later, I'm still hooked.
For me, academia—and Berkeley— provides a unique opportunity to com- bine my interests in education and research. As a top public university, Berkeley offers the chance to share my passion for science both broadly and accessibly. It's also an unparalleled environment for research, where I can work with brilliant and creative students and learn from my world-class faculty colleagues.
Berkeley also played a central role in my own education: I first joined the College of Chemistry through a summer undergraduate research program and then pursued my PhD here. I feel very fortunate to be coming back again, now joined by my husband, who will be in the Integrative Biology department.
CoC: What science problem do you feel called to solve and why? What research are you currently working on, and how does it contribute to the broader field of study?
CG: I seek to develop new methods to synthesize pharmaceuticals, particularly strategies that accelerate drug discovery or decrease waste in manufacturing. More specifically, my research aims to utilize physical stimuli such as light, electricity, and magnetic interactions to transfer energy to chemical reactions, offering novel strategies to control reaction selectivity and increase efficiency. This research merges my interests in fundamental chemistry with real-world applications. One motivation that draws me to this field is the rapid pace at which pharmaceutical companies innovate: if a research group at a university identifies a new enabling synthetic method, it can be adopted by drug discovery teams in industry within weeks, allowing researchers to see immediate real-world impacts of their work.
CoC: What excites you most about the future of your field, and how do you see your role in shaping that future?
CG: There are many exciting technological advances that I could list, but I think that the most exciting thing about the future of my field is the students, both at Berkeley and other institutions. Seeing these students' creativity and passion for science makes me confident in the future broadly. I see my role in shaping this future as helping to nurture students' enthusiasm and providing an environment where students can hone their problem-solving skills and scientific intuition. When I select research problems, I try to choose ones that are fundamentally interesting and impactful to society, but also those that allow students to develop a broad and rigorous scientific skill set.