Awards and Honors

College of Chemistry awards and honors featured in the news.

Alivisatos and Grätzel receive the Frontiers Award for developing new nanomaterials applied in renewable energies

April 1, 2021

solar cell

The BBVA Foundation has awarded the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Basic Sciences category to Paul Alivisatos and Michael Grätzel for their fundamental contributions to the development of new nanomaterials that are already being applied both in solar energy production and in next-generation electronics. The work of both winners opens the door to new avenues...

Carlos Bustamante receives 2021 Kazuhiko Kinosita Award in single-molecule biophysics

March 4, 2021

Carlos J. Bustamante

Professor Carlos Bustamante. Image courtesy of the College of Chemistry

The Biophysical Society is pleased to announce that Carlos Bustamante, the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Professor in Biophysics and professor of Chemistry, Physics and Molecular and Cell Biology...

David Limmer awarded 2021 Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship

February 16, 2021

David Limmer

David Limmer at UC Berkeley. (Photo: courtesy David Limmer)

The College of Chemistry is pleased to announce that David Limmer, Assistant Chemistry Professor and Chevron Chair in Chemistry, has been awarded a 2021 Fellowship by the...

Omar Yaghi awarded the German Chemical Society gold medal

March 4, 2020

Omar Yaghi

Omar Yaghi has been awrded the the 2020 August-Wilhelm-von-Hofmann-Denkmünze. The German Chemical Society bi-annually presents this prestigious award to an outstanding national and international chemists in a wide range of fields. Among the oldest chemistry awards, the August-Wilhelm-von-Hofmann-Denkmünze gold medal was first awarded in 1903. The award is intended to recognize outstanding achievements in chemistry; in particular by scientists working outside of Germany.

Professor Christopher J. Chang awarded the Humboldt Research Award

January 8, 2021

Christopher J. Chang

Christopher J. Chang, Class of 1942 Chair Professor of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Berkeley, has been awarded the Humboldt Research Award. The award, honoring internationally recognized researchers, includes a stay at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg where Professor Chang will be hosted...

College of Chemistry announces lectureship in honor of professor William Lester

December 7, 2020

William Lester

William Lester during his time at IBM. (photo: courtesy William Lester)

UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry established a new lectureship for research from traditionally underrepresented scholars in honor of campus graduate professor William Lester.

Lester is a longtime campus faculty...

Peidong Yang and Sunjay Kumar named AAAS Fellows

November 30, 2020

Sanjay Kurmar and Peidong Yang

Photo: Sanjay Kumar and Peidong Yang. (File photos UC Berkeley)

Congratulations to Professors Sanjay Kumar and Peidong Yang on being elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the world’s largest scientific societies. The distinction was awarded this year to 489 scientists, engineers and innovators for...

AIChE student chapter wins Western Region title

November 19, 2020

2019-2020 executive board AIChE student chapter

AIChE UC Berkeley Student Chapter leadership pose during their weekly ZOOM meeting to discuss club events. Members include Jeremy Murphy-Ortega, Ashutosh Bhadouria, Julia Glasser, Stephen Chang, Esther Leem, Sancialita Sathiyamoorthy, Andrea Chen, Samantha Yang, Meagan Macavinta, Ariana Dunlap,...

The College of Chemistry celebrates Jennifer Doudna

November 12, 2020

The College of Chemistry was delighted to host an informal discussion with Nobel Laureate, and College faculty member, Jennifer Doudna. Hosted by Dean Douglas Clark and Chair of Chemistry Matthew Francis, Jennifer discussed a wide range of topics from what it was like finding about the award to some really great advice on how to manage your education and career. The session was moderated by graudate students Max Sosa...

David Schaffer named Acrivos Professional Progress Award recipient

November 12, 2020

David V. Schaffer

This fall, ChEnected is introducing readers to the recipients of AIChE’s 2020 Institute and Board of Directors’ Awards, which are AIChE’s highest honors. Recipients are nominated by the chemical engineering community and voted on by the members of AIChE’s volunteer-led Awards Committee. These awards recognize outstanding achievements and world-class contributions across a...