College of Chemistry

John Markels announced as new College of Chemistry Advisory Board Chair

January 22, 2021
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

John Markels

John Markels, President of Vaccines, Merck (photo courtesy of Merck).

The College is delighted to announce that John Markels (Ph.D. '93, ChemE), President of Vaccines at Merck, will be our next...

A Career in Catalysis: Alexis T. Bell

March 13, 2018

Alexis T. BellOn the occasion of Alexis T. Bell’ s fiftieth year at Berkeley, a group of Alex's former Ph.D and Post Doc students, have created an overview of his substantial research.

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

April 23, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

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.

Feodor Lynen fellow Domink Halter joins research group of Jeffrey Long

July 13, 2018


Boreskov Institute of CatalysisDr. Dominik Halter has been awarded a Feodor Lynen fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, to join the chemistry research group of Professor Jeffrey Long as a postdoctoral researcher. Halter’s research at Berkeley will focus on the development of new metal-organic frameworks with coordinatively unsaturated metal sites for hydrogen storage and catalysis.

US News ranks CBE graduate program #2 in country

March 19, 2020
College of Chemistry Press Release

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.

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.