150th Celebration

Ignacio Tinoco Jr.

March 25, 2020

Ignacio Jr. Tinoco

By Kerry Grens

Ignacio (Nacho) Tinoco, a chemist at the University of California, Berkeley, who pioneered methods to understand the structures of RNA, died last month (November 15). He was 85....

Theodore Vermeulen

March 5, 2020
By C. R. Wilke, D. Hanson, K. S. Pitzer, and C. W. Tobias

Theodore Vermeulen

Undated photo of Professor Theodore Vermeulen in his office in Gillman Hall. (Photo College of Chemistry, UC Berkeley)

Professor Theodore (Ted) Vermeulen (1916-1983), Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director of the Water Thermal & Chemical Technology Center, passed away on October 28, 1983 after a brief but valiant fight against leukemia. His...

Celebrating George Pimentel on his 100th birthday

April 9, 2022
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Kenneth Herr and George Pimentel

Image: (l to r) Kenneth Herr and George Pimentel discuss production of the infrared spectrometer that was placed on the Mars Mariner 6 and 7 spacecraft that went to Mars in 1969 and discovered that there was water on the planet. (Photo: College of Chemistry)...

The first women chemists at Cal

February 5, 2018
by Marge d'Wylde | College of Chemistry

Early Women Chemistry Scientists at Cal 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.

David Lyon, UC chemistry professor, dies at 89

August 20, 2022
Steve Rubenstein | Chronicle Staff Writer | SF GATE

Dorothy Lyons, David Lyons, Clayton Heathcock

Professors David Lyon and Clayton Heathcock with David's wife Dorothy in an undated photograph at a College of Chemistry event. (photograph Michael Barnes)

Professor David Lyon died Dec. 10, 2008 in a Santa Rosa senior citizen home at the age of 89.

David Lyon, a...

UC Berkeley Chemists and the Periodic Table

January 9, 2019
by Marge d'Wylde | College of Chemistry

Seaborg, Ghiorso and other 104 discovery colleagues.

Photo: The Rutherfordium (element 104) discovery team in 1969: (l to r) Matti Nurmia, Jim Harris, Kari Eskola, Glen Seaborg, Pirkko Eskola and Albert Ghiorso.

Dimitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist who in 1869 wrote out the known...

Richard Edward Powell

March 11, 2020
By George Jura, R. E. Connick, A. E. Hutson, and G. A. Somorjai

Richard Edward Powell

Shortly after the death of Professor Richard Powell, his brother wrote a letter to the department, as follows: “Dick said that the two happiest days of his...

Rollie John Myers

March 11, 2020
By David E. Wemmer

Rollie Myers

Professor Rollie John Myers Jr. was born on July 15, 1924, in Hastings, Nebraska, where his father was also born, and passed away on September 12, 2016, at age 92. His family prospered in Nebraska, thanks to automobiles requiring parts and the development of radio. In 1932 his father...

Stanley G. Thompson- a Chemist's Chemist

February 14, 2022
by Glenn T. Seaborg

Thompson and associates.

The UCLA Gang, Chicago, July 1944. Left to right: Leonard Katzin, Zene Jasaitis, Nathalie and Harlan Baumbach, Glenn Seaborg, Stanley Thompson, Leonard Dreher, Fred Albaugh

In looking back at the discovery of transuranium elements the name Stanley G. Thompson stands out. When he died (July 16,...

http://www.bonestamp.com/sgt/A_Chemists_Chemist/Chemist_Chemist.htm

Robert George Bergman

March 20, 2020

Professor Bergman standing in front of a chalkboard.

Robert G. Bergman was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 23, 1942. After completing his undergraduate studies in chemistry at Carleton College in 1963, he received his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin in 1966 under the direction of Jerome A...