College of Chemistry

Harvesting solar fuels through a bacterium’s unusual appetite for gold

October 5, 2018
By Theresa Duque, contributing writer

CRISPR/Cas12a system. Photo courtesy C&EN, Illusciences.

M. thermoacetica first made its debut as the first non-photosensitive bacterium to carry out artificial photosynthesis in a study led by Peidong Yang, a professor in UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry. By attaching light-absorbing nanoparticles made of cadmium sulfide (CdS) to the bacterial membrane exterior, the researchers turned M. thermoacetica into a tiny photosynthesis machine, converting sunlight and carbon dioxide into useful chemicals.

Atom Computing receives VC funding to create a radical new paradigm in quantum computing

September 27, 2018
by Ethan Batraski | Medium

JAtom Computers acquires VC funding for development

The promise of Quantum Computers will unlock a new dimension of computing capabilities that are not possible today with classical computers, regardless of the size, compute power, or parallelization.

ACS awards alum Paul VerNooy and DuPont colleagues with Heroes of Chemistry award

September 21, 2018

MOFS float above the desert. Photo courtesy California Magazine.

Paul VerNooy (Ph.D. Chem 1991) and five fellow scientists from DuPont (including Alan Carroll, Kenneth Hang, Brian Laughlin, Kurt Mikeska, and Charlie Torardi) have received the 2018 Heroes award from the American Chemical Society (ACS). The DuPont scientists are honored for inventing Solamet® PV17x, the metallization paste that pioneered the use of lead tellurite chemistry, a game changer in the solar energy industry.

Meet Metal-Organic Frameworks, Chemistry’s New Miracle Materials

September 20, 2018
By Krissy Eliot | California Magazine

MOFS float above the desert. Photo courtesy California Magazine.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a revolutionary new class of crystalline solids that can be designed to trap myriad kinds of matter, including greenhouse gases, or to be used as nanosized drug carriers. They can also pull water from desert air.

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”.

What kind of person donates a kidney to a stranger?

September 12, 2018
by Will Kane

Katherine Welsh

Just about every few months since she was 16, Katherine Welsh, a fundraiser in the College of Chemistry, has given blood. The act of service was second nature to her, as regular as getting her car's oil changed or setting the clocks back for daylight savings.

Dr. William Lester Jr selected as Top Chemist Educator of the Year by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP)

September 10, 2018
PR Distribution

William LesterDr. William Alexander Lester, Jr, Chemist & Educator for University of California, Berkeley was selected as Top Chemist Educator of the Year for 2018 by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) for his outstanding leadership and commitment to the field.

While inclusion with the International Association of Top Professionals is an honor in itself, only a...

Jennifer Doudna honored at Kavli Prize ceremonies in Norway

September 4, 2018
Bob Sanders | UC Berkeley


Virginijus Šikšnys, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle CharpentierCRISPR-Cas9 inventor Jennifer Doudna, a UC Berkeley professor of chemistry and of molecular and cell biology, was awarded the 2018 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience today in Norway during a gala ceremony hosted by King Harald V. She shared the prestigious honor with her colleague Emmanuelle Charpentier, now at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, Germany, and another early CRISPR researcher, Virginijus Šikšnys of Vilnius University in Lithuania.

Enrique Iglesia receives 2018 AIChE William H. Walker Award

September 6, 2018

UC Berkeley Faculty member Enrique Iglesia, Theodore Vermeulen Chair Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has been awarded the 2018 William H. Walker Award for Excellence in Contributions to Chemical Engineering Literature from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

College Staff member Lisa Johnsen Littlejohn to be celebrated at campus memorial

September 4, 2018


Lisa Johnsen LittlejohnLisa Johnsen Littlejohn was a lifelong resident of the Bay Area and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1977. She worked for the University of California system, first at the U.C. Office of the President in Oakland, and then in the Chemistry Department at U.C. Berkeley, where she worked as an administrative specialist for Professor Phill Geissler. She will be honored during the annual memorial service at UC Berkeley Sepetember 10th.