Awards and Honors

College of Chemistry awards and honors featured in the news.

Ashok Ajoy named 2025 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar

May 15, 2025
College of Chemistry Press Release
Assistant Professor of Chemistry Ashok Ajoy has been named a 2025 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar.
https://www.dreyfus.org/2025-camille-dreyfus-teacher-scholar-awards/

Utzat receives NSF CAREER Award for advancing quantum light research

April 10, 2025
By Sarah C.P. Williams
Hendrik Utzat has been recognized for his groundbreaking work in materials for quantum optics and his commitment to mentorship and outreach.

Michael Zuerch awarded Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research award

May 5, 2025
UC Berkeley College of Chemistry Press Release
This prestigious international award recognizes researchers who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in their fields and anticipates further groundbreaking contributions.

Richmond Sarpong elected to National Academy of Sciences

May 2, 2025
By Jason Pohl | Berkeley News
The National Academy of Sciences has added eight UC Berkeley faculty members to its esteemed ranks of scholars and experts, including Richmond Sarpong.

Frances Arnold: from graduate student to Nobel Laureate

March 3, 2019
by Michael Barnes | College of Chemistry
Caltech professor and Cal alum Frances Arnold, has won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discoveries in the directed evolution of enzymes. Arnold is the fifth woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry since it was first awarded in 1901.

White House honors chemists Darleane Hoffman and Gabor Somorjai with Enrico Fermi Award

March 29, 2023
by Robert Sanders | UC Berkeley Public Affairs

Darleane Hoffman and Gabor Somorjai

Nuclear chemist Darleane Hoffman and surface chemist Gabor Somorjai received the Enrico Fermi Award from President Biden and Vice-President Harris for their pioneering work. Photos courtesy of Lawrence Berkeley Lab.

The Biden Administration today (Tuesday, March 28) named Darleane C. Hoffman...

Jay Keasling receives distinguished scientist fellow award

September 23, 2021
by Aliyah Kovner | Berkeley Lab

Jay Keasling

Jay Keasling, a senior faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), professor at UC Berkeley, and CEO of the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), has been named a Distinguished Scientist Fellow by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

He and the other recipients – Gregory W...

Two Berkeley professors receive prestigious Guggenheim fellowships

April 22, 2025
By Lila Thulin | Berkeley News
Chemical Engineer Markita del Carpio Landry and Philosopher Hannah Ginsborg have been awarded one of the highest intellectual honors on North American academics and creatives.

Yaghi wins Mustafa Scientific Prize

January 5, 2016
by Michael Barnes, College of Chemistry Editor

Omar Yahgi. Photo by Lawrence Berkeley Nat'l Lab - Roy Kaltschmidt, photographer

Photo courtesy Lawrence Berkeley Nat'l Lab - Roy Kaltschmidt, photographer.

Chemistry professor Omar Yaghi has won an inaugural Mustafa Scientific Prize, awarded by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states. The award ceremony was...

Hartwig wins Janssen Pharmaceutica Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis

July 14, 2014
Chemistry Professor John Hartwig has been awarded the 2014 Janssen Pharmaceutica Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis. The prize will be delivered after the lecture Hartwig will give at a symposium on Thursday, July 17, at the Belgian Organic Synthesis Symposium (BOSS).