Awards and Honors

College of Chemistry awards and honors featured in the news.

Omar Yaghi receives the 2017 Albert Einstein World Award of Science prize

November 8, 2017
The annual Albert Einstein World Award for Science is given by the World Cultural Council "as a means of recognition and encouragement for scientific and technological research and development", with special consideration for research which "has brought true benefit and well being to mankind".

Emeritus professor Jean Fréchet awarded King Faisal Prize in Science

February 27, 2019

Jean Fréchet named 2019 King Faisal Prize in Science winnerProfessor Jean M. J. Fréchet, UC Berkeley professor emeritus and Allen Bard, Professor of Chemistry at UT Austin have been named co-Laureates of the 2019 King Faisal Prize in Science. The award, announced on January 13, cites Fréchet's pioneering work and seminal contributions in the areas of convergent synthesis of dendrimers and their applications, chemically amplified photoresists and organic photovoltaics. A ceremony honoring the Laureates will be held in March.

2022 Emanuel Merck Lectureship awarded to John F. Hartwig

May 23, 2022

John Hartwig presentation at the Emanuel Merck lectureship award ceremony in Germany

John Hartwig during his presentation in Darmstadt, Germany for the 2022 Emanuel Merck Lectureship. (Photo courtesy of Merck KGaA.)

Merck KGaA, a leading science and technology company located in Darmstadt, Germany, has named...

Graduate student Jose Roque awarded Bristol-Myers Squibb Fellowship

August 20, 2019
Jose Roque, a Ph.D. student in the chemistry lab of Professor Richmond Sarpong, has been awarded a 2019–2020 Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) Graduate Fellowship in Synthetic Organic Chemistry.

College of Chemistry graduate programs get high honors in new U.S. News rankings

March 31, 2021

College of Chemistry campus

The latest U.S. News & World Report national rankings has placed the College’s graduate programs in chemistry and chemical engineering in second place. The College continues to maintain its position among the top graduate programs in the country.

Our alumna Frances Arnold, who received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Berkeley, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018 for...

Maimone wins Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb awards

November 21, 2016

Thomas Maimone Chemistry professor Tom Maimone has been selected as one of two recipients of the prestigious 2016 Novartis Early Career Award in Organic Chemistry.

Professor Richmond Sarpong elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

April 23, 2020

Richmond Sarpong

The College of Chemistry is pleased to announce that Richmond Sarpong, UC Berkeley Professor of Chemistry and Executive Associate Dean of the College of Chemistry, has been named a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This year, the Academy has elected 276 artists, scholars, scientists, and leaders in the public, non-profit, and private sectors. Sarpong joins fellow members singer Joan Baez and writer Ann Patchett in the 2020 cohort.

US News ranks CBE graduate program #2 in country

March 19, 2020

US News and World Report ranks CBE #2

The College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley is pleased to announce that the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) has been ranked number two in a tie with Caltech in the 2021 U.S. News and World Report list of best chemical engineering graduate schools in the United States. MIT was in first place.

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.

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.