Awards and Honors

College of Chemistry awards and honors featured in the news.

David Schaffer named to NAE

February 12, 2025
David Schaffer inducted by prestigious organization for world-changing research.

Kwabena Bediako honored at third annual Philomathia Day

February 11, 2025
The third annual Philomathia Day took place on Jan. 31, and honored 2024 Philomathia Prize recipient Professor Kwabena Bediako.

The College of Chemistry is ranked No.1 globally in 2019 by U.S. News

November 5, 2018
UC Berkeley's College of Chemistry has been listed as the best global university for chemistry in the 2019 U.S. News and World Report Education rankings.

Frances Arnold: from graduate student to Nobel Laureate

March 3, 2019
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.

Doudna receives National Medal of Technology and Innovation

January 7, 2025
President Biden awarded Jennifer Doudna the National Medal of Technology and Innovation as a pioneer of CRISPR gene editing.

UC dominates new U.S. News ranking of public universities

September 11, 2018

Campanile, Berkeley campus

The University of California dominates the latest ranking of public universities from U.S. News and World Report, claiming six spots in the top 12 and seven in the top 30.

As usual, UCLA and UC Berkeley joust for position at the top of the list, in first and second place among public universities. This year, UCLA added four points to its...

John Hartwig: The 2019 Wolf Prize and the importance of fundamental research in the discovery of synthetic catalysts

March 9, 2019

John Hartwig (Ph.D.’90, Chem), is the Henry Rapoport Professor in Organic Chemistry at UC Berkeley. He joined the senior faculty at the College of Chemistry in 2011. His research group is focused on the discovery and understanding of new reactions of organic compounds catalyzed by transition metal complexes and artificial metalloenzymes. Among the many potential applications are catalysts for pharmaceuticals, renewable chemicals, and fuels.

Hartwig did his graduate research at UC Berkeley with advisors Robert Bergman...

Alumna Danna Freedman awarded MacArthur Fellowship

November 7, 2022

Danna Freedman

Alumna Danna Freedman, Professor MIT (Ph.D. '09, Chem with Professor Jeffrey Long). Photo courtesy of the MacArthur Foundation.

Danna Freedman, the F.G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry at MIT, has been named a 2022 MacArthur Fellowship reciepient by the...

Undergraduate students compete in national L'Oréal Brandstorm competition

May 24, 2019

Two talented undergraduate teams, with members from the College of Chemistry and Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR), competed in this year's USA national L'Oréal Brandstorm competition in New York City in April. Both teams made it to the final round, with a third place tie out of approximately 150 teams nationwide. The first and second place winners will go onto France to compete in the finals later this year.

Jeffrey Reimer, Professor and Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) commented, “I am not surprised to see our students do so...

Omar Yaghi awarded 2024 Balzan Prize

September 9, 2024
Professor Omar M. Yaghi was awarded the 2024 Balzan Prize by the International Balzan Prize Foundation.