150th Women

Agnes Fay Morgan, Home Economics: Berkeley

February 22, 2021
By Ruth Okey, Barbara Kennedy Johnson, and Gordon Mackinney

Black and white photo of woman in lab

Agnes Fay Morgan (1884-1968)

Professor Emeritus of Nutrition Biochemist Emeritus, Agricultural Experiment Station

“There were giants in the earth in those days,” and time will...

In Memoriam: Alumna Marjorie (Young) Vold

August 3, 2021
Marge d'Wylde | College of Chemistry

Alums Marjorie Young Vold and Robert Vold

Alumni Robert Vold (Ph.D. '35, Chem) and Marjorie Vold née Young (Ph.D. '36, Chem). Unknown photographer and date. Photo courtesy Tom Aiken.

Marjorie Jean Young (1913 – 1991) was born in Ottawa, Ontario. She moved to the United States in 1918 and became...

Honor Among Fiends

September 18, 2020
College of Chemistry News

Chemistry Fiends logo

By Kathryn M. Neal, Associate University Archivist, Bancroft Library

When women students in the University of California’s College of Chemistry formed a social club in 1900, they called themselves the Chemistry Fiends. At that time, male undergraduate students outnumbered females nearly six to one. In 1902, members of the Chemistry Fiends elected officers and formally adopted a...

The first women chemists at Cal

February 5, 2018
by Marge d'Wylde | College of Chemistry
The College salutes the pioneer women chemistry faculty at Cal. Both as scientists, and as early faculty members at the University, they helped to pave the way for the next generations of women faculty and students.

Alumna Carol Burns receives Garvan-Olin Medal

September 3, 2020
Press release | Los Alamos Lab

Carol Burns, alumna, Los Alamos Lab

(Photo: Los Alamos Lab)

Carol Burns (Ph.D. '87, Chem) executive officer for the Deputy Director for Science, Technology & Engineering at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was selected as the recipient of the 2021 American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Francis P. Garvan‒John M. Olin Medal. This national award recognizes distinguished service in the field of...

Anne Baranger announced as inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

August 19, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Anne Baranger

Dean Douglas Clark of the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley has announced that Anne Baranger, Teaching Professor in the Department of Chemistry, will serve as the College’s first Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for a three-year term.

Dean Clark states, “We welcome Anne as...

Berkeley Chemistry: 1868 to the Present

Chemistry has been part of Berkeley since the University's charter was signed on March 23,1868. The chemist Robert Fisher was one of the first ten faculty to be hired.

Watch Jennifer Doudna's Nobel Prize award ceremony

December 4, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

For Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna, the highlight of this most extraordinary Nobel Prize Week was a socially distanced award ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 8, on her patio in Berkeley with 11 people in attendance, followed by takeout. But if the glow surronding her was any indication, she could have been receiving the medal and citation from the King of Sweden on the stage at Stockholm Concert Hall. The traditional celebration has been rescheduled for next year.

A videographer and photographer captured the intimate gathering with the highlight being the presentation of the Nobel gold...

In Memoriam: Alumna Vera Kistiakowsky

October 27, 2022
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Vera Kistiakowsky (9 September 1928 – 11 December 2021) was an American research physicist, teacher, and arms control activist. She was professor emerita at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the physics department and Laboratory for Nuclear Science, and was an activist for women's participation in the sciences. Kistiakowsky was an expert in experimental particle physics and observational astrophysics. She was the first woman appointed MIT professor of physics....

Alumna Miriam Elizabeth Simpson

September 2, 2022
C. Willet Asling and Herbert H. Srebnik | Faculty Senate

Miriam E. Simpson in a lab.

Undated photograph of Miriam Elizabeth Simpson. Photo: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 90-105, Science Service Records, Image No. SIA2009-3384

Summary: Miriam Elizabeth Simpson (1894-1991) attended the University of California at Berkeley, earning the A.B. in chemistry in 1915 and the M.A. in 1916....