150th Chemistry

In Memoriam: Harold S. Johnston

July 19, 2021
By Ronald C. Cohen

Harold Johnston in the lab

Harold Johnston circa 1970s. (Photo: Dennis Galloway collection, Bancroft Library)

Pioneering atmospheric chemist and UC Berkeley Emeritus Professor of Chemistry Harold S. Johnston, was born in Woodstock, Georgia, on October 11, 1920, and died on Oct 20, 2012. He received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, with a minor in...

Lloyd Noel Ferguson: research chemist and educator

June 18, 2020
by Marge d'Wylde | College of Chemistry

Lloyd Noel Ferguson

Lloyd Noel Ferguson (1936-1986), circa 1984 (Photo: Cal State LA)

Dr. Lloyd Noel Ferguson (B.S., '40; Ph.D. '43, Chem) was a brilliant chemist, a dedicated teacher and mentor, and an ardent supporter...

Henry Chalmers Biddle

March 3, 2020

Berkeley, Sept 3, 1935

Henry Chalmers Biddle (1869-1935; Ph.D. 1900, University of Chicago)

Henry Biddle, 1896

Henry Chalmers Biddle of Kirkwood, Illinois, an 1891 graduate of Monmouth College, sits for a portrait....

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...

Lester Andrews (Ph.D. ’66, Chem) reminisces about his experience in George Pimentel’s lab

October 1, 2021
Professor Emeritus Lester Andrews |University of Virginia

George Pimentel, 1960sGeorge Pimentel in the 1960s. Photo courtesy of Jeanne Pimentel.

In 1963, the last Sunday in September, I flew from my home in Starkville, Mississippi to SFO and took ground transportation to the I-House where I would live for three semesters. Qualifying exams were given the next day, Monday, and on Tuesday we were given the results and told to interview...

The cyclotron's history at Berkeley

July 22, 2021
Lynn Yarris | Berkeley Lab

Ernest O. Lawrence, Glenn T. Seaborg, and J. Robert Oppenheimer in early 1946 at the controls to the magnet of the 184-inch cyclotron

(l to r) Physicist Robert Oppenheimer, chemist Glenn Seaborg and, physicist Ernest Lawrence in 1946 at the control panel of the...

John Gofman: Medical school to nuclear chemistry at UC Berkeley

August 5, 2021
Harry Blackburn, Ph.D.

Excerpt from "John ‘Jack’ Gofman. Researcher and Social Activist. ‘Fair-haired Boy’ and ‘Enemy Within’" American Journal of Cardiology,

John Gofman at Berkeley Lab

John Gofman circa 1950 at the...

In honor of Ahmed Zewail (1946-2016)

August 8, 2016

Charles Harris with Ahmed Zewail (left to right)To appreciate the magnitude of the advance that Zewail introduced to chemistry, one has to ponder the minuteness of the time intervals that he could routinely employ with his special lasers: a femtosecond is a millionth of a billionth of a second. It is one second divided by ten to the power of fifteen.

In memoriam: Alum Harvey Itano and the journey to sickle cell research

July 13, 2021
Jackie Carr | UC San Diego

Harvey Itano photographed by Dorethea Lange

Image: Harvey Akio Itano, 21, 1942 graduate from the University of California where he received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry degree. He was chosen by the faculty as University Medalist for 1942 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. Mr. Itano went to the Japanese Assembly center prior to...

John Maxson Stillman

July 25, 2021
F. O. Koenig | Isis

Excerpt from biography by F.O. Koenig in Isis, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Autumn, 1942), pp. 142-146

John Maxsom Stillman

Photo of Stillman from Stanford University archivev collection. Approx date 1897....