College of Chemistry

Guggenheim Fellowship awarded to Christopher Chang

April 10, 2021
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Chris Chang

The College of Chemistry is pleased to announce that Christopher Chang, Class of 1942 Chair Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, is among this year’s 184 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellows. The prestigious award recognizes scholars with impressive achievements in fields ranging from the...

In Memoriam: David Shirley

April 2, 2021
Steve Kevan and Maria-Novella Piancastelli of Uppsala University | Berkeley Lab

David Shirley

David Arthur Shirley, former director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, died on March 29, 2021, of age-related illness. Shirley was a pioneer of electron spectroscopy, a teacher, a mentor, and an extraordinary scientific leader with broad vision, who spearheaded the creation of the...

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

April 1, 2021
BBVA press release

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...

Authors John Newman and Nitash Balsara release 'Electrochemical Systems', Fourth Edition

April 1, 2021
Frances Chaves | ECS-Blog

John Newman and Nitash Balsara

The long-anticipated fourth edition of Electrochemical Systems by John Newman and Nitash P. Balsara is now available.* The fourth edition updates all of the chapters, adds content on lithium battery electrolyte characterization and polymer electrolytes, and includes a new chapter on impedance spectroscopy. Topics covered include...

FDA approves first test of CRISPR to correct genetic defect causing sickle cell disease

March 30, 2021
By Robert Sanders | UC Berkeley media relations

Sickle cell patients such as Cassandra Trimnell and Evie James Junior and UCSF physician Mark Walters talk about the severe pain experienced by those with the disease and the potential benefits of a CRISPR cure. (Video by UC Berkeley Public Affairs; video of Evie Junior by Colin Weatherby, courtesy UCLA’s Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research)

In 2014, two years after her Nobel Prize-winning invention of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, Jennifer Doudna thought the technology was mature enough to tackle a cure for a devastating hereditary...

Do You Know the Way to Berkelium, Californium?

March 24, 2021
Theresa Duque | Berkeley Lab

Berkelium, Californium

Scientists at Berkeley Lab’s predecessor, the UC Radiation Laboratory, discovered berkelium in 1949, and californium in 1950. Today, Berkeley Lab scientists are using state-of-the-art instruments at the Molecular Foundry to better understand how actinides like berkelium and californium could serve to accelerate...

In Memoriam: Chia-Kuang (Frank) Tsung

March 23, 2021

Group of scientists at meeting in Shaghai

Relaxing with some friends in Shanghai during a meeting. Clockwise direction: Omar Yaghi (back to camera), Osamu Terasaki, Chia-Kuang (Frank) Tsung, Yue-Biao Zhang, Qiaowei Li, Stefan Wuttke, Keinan Ehud, Peidong Yang. Photo courtesy ...

Portable oasis: GE and its partners plan to build a box to produce water from air

March 23, 2021
Chris Noon| GE Renewable Energy

Test of water extracted from air

Image courtesy of GE.

Keeping enemies on the run is all part of the job for soldiers in the U.S. Army, yet troops stationed in the world’s hot spots frequently face another relentless foe: thirst. But scientists at GE Research and their partners at U.S. universities including (link is external)...

David Schaffer Harnesses 'Directed Evolution' for Gene Therapy

March 18, 2021
Jeannine Mjoseth | The Hertz Foundation

David Schaffer

David Schaffer, Hertz Fellow, gene therapy researcher, and The Hubbard Howe Jr. Distinguished Professor of Biochemical Engineering at UC Berkeley says he “plays Darwin” in his Berkeley lab, using high throughput genetic sequencing technology to test over a billion genetic samples for the desired biological activity.

He mutates promising genes and selects...

Meet our faculty: Alexis T. Bell

August 10, 2020
Roger Eardley-Pryor | UC Berkeley Oral History Project
Alexis T. Bell: A Career in Catalysis and University Administration at UC Berkeley

Alex Bell

Alexis T. Bell in UC Berkeley classroom, circa 1990.

Alexis T. Bell is the Dow Professor of Sustainable Chemistry in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular...