Awards and Honors

College of Chemistry awards and honors featured in the news.

UC Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry recipient of an award for novel green preservatives

August 6, 2018

Green suppliesThe Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3) and InnoCentive have announced the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry as one of seven winners in the global GC3 Challenge: Developing New Preservatives for Personal Care & Household Products. Launched in April 2017, the challenge aims to identify and support innovators developing preservative technologies with improved environmental,...

Professor Richard Saykally receives Helmholtz International Fellow award

August 7, 2018


Richmond Sarpong research teamClass of 1932 Endowed Professor of Chemistry, Richard Saykally, has been awarded a 2018 Helmholtz International Fellow Award for his research using X-ray spectroscopy to study the detailed chemistry of the global carbon cycle, characterizing the hydration structure and intermolecular interactions in aqueous CO2, carbonic acid, carbonate, bicarbonate, and the calcium and magnesium salts that ultimately form limestone.

Omar Yaghi wins 2018 Eni Energy Transition Award

July 23, 2018


Omar YaghiEni has announced the winners of the 11th edition of the Eni Award. Omar Yaghi has received this year's Energy Transition Award. Over the years, the award, established in 2007, has become an international point of reference for research in the energy and environmental sectors. The Eni Award aims to reflect the importance of scientific research and innovation, promoting a better use of energy sources and encouraging a new generation of researchers.

Teresa Head-Gordon named ACS Fellow

July 17, 2018


Boreskov Institute of CatalysisThe American Chemical Society has named Chancellor’s Professor of Chemistry, Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Teresa Head-Gordon as an ACS Fellow for 2018. Head-Gordon has been recognized for her development of advanced theoretical and computational models and methodologies applied to chemical physics and biophysics of water and solvation, macromolecules and assemblies, complex interfaces, and catalysis.

Top graduating senior champions neurodiversity

May 7, 2018


Freja Ekman in the labScientifically gifted, agile and charmingly quirky, Freja Ekman knows firsthand how it feels to win the genetic lottery. But UC Berkeley’s top graduating senior is also painfully aware of how a single gene mutation can drastically alter the trajectory of one’s life.

College of Chemistry faculty elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

May 11, 2018


Professors Dean Toste and Birgitta Whaley elected to the Academy of Arts and SciencesProfessors Dean Toste and Birgitta Whaley have been elected this year to the prestigious Academy of Arts and Sciences , which honors exceptional scholars, leaders, artists and innovators.

Mars work by UC Berkeley’s George Pimentel recognized with national historic landmark

May 24, 2017

George Pimentel teaching at UC BerkeleyA bronze plaque designating the Mars Infrared Spectrometer as an ACS National Historic Chemical Landmark was unveiled at the May 15 ceremony, and a version of the Mars IRS is on view inside Pimentel Hall. It is accompanied by a display of historical materials and photographs tracing the efforts of the Pimentel team to create and launch the spectrometer.

Jillian L Dempsey awarded 2018 Dalton Transactions UC Berkeley Lectureship

April 13, 2018

(left to right) John Arnold, Jillian Dempsey, Andrew ShoreThe 2018 awardee of the Dalton Transactions University of California, Berkeley Lectureship is Professor Jillian L Dempsey, at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Lecture recognizes independent early career researchers who have made a significant contribution to the field of inorganic chemistry.