College of Chemistry

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.

Professors Omar Yaghi and Michael O’Keeffe receive award from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

September 19, 2018
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Array of Lithium Ion batteries stacked side by side.The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2019 Gregori Aminoff Prize in Crystallography to Michael O’Keeffe, Arizona State University, and Omar M. Yaghi, University of California, “for their fundamental contributions to the development of reticular chemistry”.

Forbes 30 under 30 in Science: Joaquin Resasco

December 7, 2019
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Joaquin Resasco

Alum Joaquin Resasco (Ph.D. '17, ChemE) has been named one of "Forbes 30 under 30 in Science" for 2020! Resasco has been reconginzed for his work aimed around shifting the decades-old paradigm of using petroleum for chemical energy into one that uses water and the atmosphere as stock for commodities, powered by renewable energy. To that end, he’s focused on designing catalysts that can be used for the sustainable production of essential chemicals and polymers.

In Memoriam: Professor Jack Kirsch

November 21, 2018
Molecular & Cell Biology Department

Professor of Molecular & Cell Biology Jack Kirsch

It is with great sadness we report the passing of Jack Kirsch, who served as a Professor of Molecular & Cell Biology and Chemistry from 1964 to 2006 and as a Professor of the Graduate School in retirement. Jack was an esteemed scientist and a pillar of the campus community who will be greatly missed by all who knew and worked with him.

Spotlight on SEMI Women recognizes alum Ellie Yieh

December 26, 2018
SEMI | Christina Sandoval

Ellie YiehSpotlight on SEMI Women is excited to recognize Q4 2018 honoree Ellie Yieh (College of Chemistry Advisory Board member and alumna) from Applied Materials! Spotlight on SEMI Women recognizes and celebrates accomplished women working in the global microelectronics industry. Nominees include women who are beacons of knowledge, leaders of organizations and initiatives, hidden heroes and innovators in our industry. They are volunteers, protectors, intellectual disruptors and activists.

Paul Alivisatos announced as 2019 Welch Award in Chemistry recipient

September 13, 2019
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Paul Alivisatos and Charles Leiber

The Welch Foundation, one of the nation’s largest sources of private funding for basic chemical research, has announced that Drs. Armand Paul Alivisatos and Charles M. Lieber are the 2019 recipients of the prestigious Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry. Highly-respected and influential leaders in the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology, Drs. Alivisatos and Lieber are being recognized for their important research contributions which have had a significant, positive impact on humankind.

Big data at the atomic scale: new detector reaches new frontier in speed

February 21, 2019
Berkeley Lab News Center | by Glenn Roberts Jr.
Advances in electron microscopy have opened up a new window into the nanoscale world and brought a wide range of samples into focus as never before.

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

March 9, 2019
Marge d'Wylde | College of Chemistry

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...

QB3 director David Schaffer elected to National Academy of Inventors

December 7, 2021
By Robert Sanders | UC Berkeley media relations

David Schaffer

David Schaffer, newly elected fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in his lab.

David Schaffer, a UC Berkeley chemical engineer who pioneered the use of engineered viruses to deliver gene therapies — nine of his therapies are currently in clinical trials — has been named a fellow of the...