UC Berkeley College of Chemistry
Encyclopedia
The UC Berkeley College of Chemistry is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley
. It houses the departments of chemistry
and chemical and biomolecular engineering
and occupies six buildings flanking central plaza. US News and World Report has ranked its chemistry and chemical engineering programs first and second in the U.S., respectively. Its faculty and graduates have won numerous awards, including the Wolf Prize, the National Medal of Science
, the National Medal of Technology
, the Presidential Medal of Freedom
, as well as thirteen Nobel Prizes. -2011, it has 771 undergraduates, 481 graduates, and 303 postdoctoral fellows.
The Department of Chemistry is one of the largest and most productive in the world, graduating about 80 doctoral students per year while maintaining the world's highest citation-per-faculty score. It hosts 6 of the top 100 chemists worldwide by citation impact for 2000-2010, tied with MIT for the most of any instutition. Scientists affiliated with the department and the nearby Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
are responsible for the discovery of sixteen elements, including Berkelium
, named after the city, and Seaborgium
, named after Nobel laureate and former department chair Glenn Seaborg.
First established in 1872, the college awarded its first Ph.D. in 1885 to John Stillman, who later founded the Chemistry Department at Stanford University
. A Division of Chemical Engineering was established in 1946, becoming a department in 1957. The Department of Chemical Engineering changed its name to Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in 2010 to reflect the research focus of its faculty in the 21st century.
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. It houses the departments of chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and chemical and biomolecular engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
and occupies six buildings flanking central plaza. US News and World Report has ranked its chemistry and chemical engineering programs first and second in the U.S., respectively. Its faculty and graduates have won numerous awards, including the Wolf Prize, the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
, the National Medal of Technology
National Medal of Technology
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology...
, the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
, as well as thirteen Nobel Prizes. -2011, it has 771 undergraduates, 481 graduates, and 303 postdoctoral fellows.
The Department of Chemistry is one of the largest and most productive in the world, graduating about 80 doctoral students per year while maintaining the world's highest citation-per-faculty score. It hosts 6 of the top 100 chemists worldwide by citation impact for 2000-2010, tied with MIT for the most of any instutition. Scientists affiliated with the department and the nearby Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...
are responsible for the discovery of sixteen elements, including Berkelium
Berkelium
Berkelium , is a synthetic element with the symbol Bk and atomic number 97, a member of the actinide and transuranium element series. It is named after the city of Berkeley, California, the location of the University of California Radiation Laboratory where it was discovered in December 1949...
, named after the city, and Seaborgium
Seaborgium
Seaborgium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Sg and atomic number 106.Seaborgium is a synthetic element whose most stable isotope 271Sg has a half-life of 1.9 minutes. A new isotope 269Sg has a potentially slightly longer half-life based on the observation of a single decay...
, named after Nobel laureate and former department chair Glenn Seaborg.
First established in 1872, the college awarded its first Ph.D. in 1885 to John Stillman, who later founded the Chemistry Department at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. A Division of Chemical Engineering was established in 1946, becoming a department in 1957. The Department of Chemical Engineering changed its name to Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in 2010 to reflect the research focus of its faculty in the 21st century.
Current faculty
- Paul AlivisatosPaul AlivisatosArmand Paul Alivisatos is an American scientist of Greek descent, researching the structural, thermodynamic, optical, and electrical properties of nanocrystals...
, Materials and Solid State Chemistry; Physical Chemistry - Richard (Dick) Andersen, Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry
- John Arnold, Organometallic, Polymers and Materials Chemistry; Catalysis
- Anne M. Baranger, Chemical Biology; Organic Chemistry; Chemical Education
- Robert G. Bergman, Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry; Organic Chemistry
- Carolyn Bertozzi, Bio-organic Chemistry; Organic Chemistry
- Kristie A. Boering, Environmental Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; Atmospheric Chemistry
- Carlos BustamanteCarlos BustamanteCarlos José Bustamante is an American scientist. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.-Biography:Bustamante is an HHMI investigator and professor of molecular and cell biology, physics, and chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, a position he has held since 1998. He...
, Biophysical Chemistry - Jamie Cate, Structural Biology and Biophysical Chemistry
- Joseph Cerny, Nuclear Chemistry
- David ChandlerDavid Chandler (chemist)David Chandler is a physical chemist who is currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and a winner of the Irving Langmuir Award. He has published two books and over 200 scientific articles.-Biography:David...
, Theoretical Chemistry - Christopher ChangChristopher ChangChristopher J. Chang is a chemist at the Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, a recipient of several young scientist awards for his research in bioinorganic chemistry, molecular and chemical biology....
, Chemical Biology and Organic Chemistry; Inorganic Chemistry - Michelle ChangMichelle ChangMichelle C. Y. Chang is a chemist at the department of chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, a recipient of several young scientist awards for her research in biosynthesis of biofuels and pharmaceuticals.-Education:...
, Biochemistry, Chemical Biology, and Synthetic Biology - Ronald Cohen, Environmental Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; Atmospheric Chemistry
- Tanja Cuk, Physical Chemistry, Inorganic and Materials Chemistry, Solar Energy Conversion
- Jennifer Doudna, Chemical Biology
- Felix Fischer, Organic and Inorganic Materials Chemistry, Supramolecular Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, Molecular Electronics
- Graham FlemingGraham FlemingGraham R. Fleming is an American chemist, currently serving as professor, director of the Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, and the vice chancellor for research at the University of California, Berkeley.-Career:...
, Biophysical Chemistry; Molecular Structure and Dynamics Chemistry; Physical Chemistry - Matthew FrancisMatthew FrancisMatthew Francis is a British poet, editor of W. S. Graham's New Collected Poems, and a professor at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. His status as a contemporary British poet is well known...
, Organic, Bioorganic, and Materials Chemistry - Jean FréchetJean FrechetProfessor Jean M.J. Fréchet is the Henry Rapoport Chair of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley...
, Organic, polymer, materials and medicinal chemistry - Phillip Geissler, Theoretical Chemistry
- Naomi Ginsberg, Physical and biophysical chemistry; light harvesting, spectroscopy, and imaging
- Jay Groves, Physical chemistry in living systems
- Ming Hammond, Chemical Biology, Organic Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics
- Charles B. Harris, Materials and Solid State Chemistry; Chemical Dynamics; Physical Chemistry
- Robert HarrisRobert HarrisRobert Harris or Rob Harris may refer to:* Robert Harris , MP for Steyning* Robert Harris , English Puritan* Robert Harris , governor of Anguilla...
, Theoretical Chemistry - John Hartwig, Organic, Organometallic, and Inorganic Chemistry
- Martin Head-GordonMartin Head-GordonMartin Philip Head-Gordon is a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory working in the area of computational quantum chemistry. He is a member of The International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.A native of Australia,...
, Theoretical Chemistry - Darleane C. HoffmanDarleane C. HoffmanDarleane C. Hoffman is an American nuclear chemist who was among the researchers who confirmed the existence of Seaborgium, element 106. She is a faculty senior scientist in the Nuclear Science Division of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and a professor in the graduate school at UC Berkeley.She...
, Nuclear Chemistry - Sung-Hou KimKim Sung-HouKim Sung-Hou PhD is a Korean-born American structural biologist and biophysicist. Dr. Kim reported the first 3D structure of tRNA with A. Rich in 1973. He also published many papers on the structures of protein molecules including human Ras, human cyclin dependent kinase 2 and small heat shock...
, Biophysical Chemistry, Structural and Computational Genomics - Judith Klinman, Bio-organic Chemistry; Biophysical Chemistry
- Bryan Krantz, Biophysical chemistry of membrane proteins
- John KuriyanJohn KuriyanJohn Kuriyan is currently Chancellor's Professor at the University of California Berkeley in the departments of Molecular and Cell Biology and Chemistry. He is also a Faculty Scientist in Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and a member of...
, Structural Biology of DNA Replication and Cellular Signal Transduction - Stephen Leone, Physical Chemistry, Chemical Dynamics and Nanostructured Materials
- William Lester, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry
- Jeffrey Long, Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry; Materials and Solid State Chemistry
- Marcin Majda, Bioanalytical Chemistry and Electrochemistry
- Michael MarlettaMichael MarlettaMichael A. Marletta is an American biochemist, professor at University of California, Berkeley and president-elect of The Scripps Research Institute....
, Biological and Bio-organic Chemistry - Richard Mathies, Biophysical, Bioanalytical and Physical Chemistry
- William H. Miller, Theoretical Chemistry
- Luciano Moretto, Nuclear Chemistry
- Daniel Neumark, Physical Chemistry, Molecular Structure and Dynamics
- Heino Nitsche, Nuclear Chemistry; Nuclear Environmental Chemistry
- Alexander PinesAlexander PinesAlexander Pines is the Glenn T. Seaborg Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, Senior Scientist in the Materials Sciences Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , and a member of the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences and the Department of...
, NMR and MRI; Materials Science; Biophysical Chemistry - Ken RaymondKen RaymondKenneth Norman Raymond is an expert in bioinorganic and coordination chemistry. He is a Chancellor's Professor of Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley, the Director of the Seaborg Center in the Chemical Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the President and...
, Coordination and Bioinorganic Chemistry; Biophysical Chemistry; Supramolecular Chemistry - Richmond Sarpong, Organic and organometallic chemistry
- Dave Savage, Biophysics, Synthetic Biology, and Systems Biology
- Richard J. SaykallyRichard J. SaykallyRichard J. Saykally is an American chemist. He is currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He has received numerous awards and accolades for advanced research on the molecular characteristics of water.-Career:...
, Physical Chemistry; Analytical chemistry; Surface Science; Materials and Solid State Chemistry - Charles Shank, Physical chemistry
- Kevan Shokat, Bio-organic Chemistry
- Berend Smit, Molecular simulations, multi-scale modeling, catalysts, soft-condensed matter, biological membranes, clays
- Gabor A. SomorjaiGabor A. SomorjaiGabor A. Somorjai is currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and is a leading researcher in the field of surface chemistry and catalysis...
, Physical Chemistry; Solid State Chemistry; Surface Science; Catalysis - Angelica Stacy, Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry; Materials and Solid State Chemistry
- Herbert Strauss, Physical Chemistry, Spectroscopy, Solid State, Biophysical, Theoretical Vibrational Spectroscopy
- T. Don Tilley, Organometallic, Polymer and Materials Chemistry; Catalysis
- Ignacio Tinoco, Jr.Ignacio Tinoco, Jr.Ignacio Tinoco, Jr. is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, a position he has held since 1956 .Ignacio Tinoco received a Bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico in 1951, and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1954. He...
, Biophysical Chemistry - F. Dean Toste, Organic and Organometallic Chemistry
- K. Peter C. Vollhardt, Organic Chemistry
- David Wemmer, Biophysical Chemistry
- K. Birgitta Whaley, Theoretical Chemistry
- Evan Williams, Analytical Chemistry; Biophysical Chemistry; and Molecular Structure and Dynamics Chemistry; Mass Spectrometry
- Ting Xu, Polymers, Biomaterials, Materials Chemistry
- Peidong YangPeidong YangPeidong Yang is a Chinese American scientist, currently a Professor at the University of California, Berkeley . He is a Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of Materials Science. His research group studies the synthesis of nanomaterials and their electronic and optical properties...
, Materials Chemistry, Inorganic chemistry
Notable faculty
- Neil Bartlett - Professor (1969)
- Melvin CalvinMelvin CalvinMelvin Ellis Calvin was an American chemist most famed for discovering the Calvin cycle along with Andrew Benson and James Bassham, for which he was awarded the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He spent most of his five-decade career at the University of California, Berkeley.- Life :Calvin was born...
(B.S. 1931, Ph.D. 1935) - Professor, Nobel laureate (1961) - Robert E. ConnickRobert E. ConnickRobert E. Connick is a professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.-Life:Connick studied Chemistry at Berkeley, receiving his B.S. in 1939 and his Ph.D. in 1942...
(Ph.D. 1942) - Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Dean - William F. Giauque (B.S. 1920, Ph.D. 1922) - Professor, Nobel laureate (1949)
- Dudley R. HerschbachDudley R. HerschbachDudley Robert Herschbach is an American chemist at Harvard University. He won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with Yuan T. Lee and John C...
- Assistant Professor, Nobel laureate (1986) - Joel Henry HildebrandJoel Henry HildebrandJoel Henry Hildebrand was an American educator and a pioneer chemist. He was a major figure in chemistry research specializing in liquids and nonelectrolyte solutions.-Education and professorship:...
(Ph.D. 1906) - Dean (1949-1951), Chairman of the Dept. of Chemistry (1941-1943), Professor - Yuan T. LeeYuan T. LeeYuan Tseh Lee, Ph.D. is a chemist. He was the first Taiwanese Nobel Prize laureate, who, along with the Hungarian-Canadian John C. Polanyi and American Dudley R. Herschbach won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1986 "for their contributions to the dynamics of chemical elementary processes"...
(Ph.D. 1965) - Professor, Nobel laureate (1986) - Gilbert Newton Lewis - Dean (1912 - 1941), Professor
- Willard F. Libby (B.S. 1931, Ph.D. 1933) - Professor, Nobel laureate (1960)
- Kenneth PitzerKenneth PitzerKenneth Sanborn Pitzer was an American physical and theoretical chemist, educator, and university president....
(Ph.D. 1937) - Dean (1951-60), Professor, President of Rice UniversityRice UniversityWilliam Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
and Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. - Glenn T. SeaborgGlenn T. SeaborgGlenn Theodore Seaborg was an American scientist who won the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements", contributed to the discovery and isolation of ten elements, and developed the actinide concept, which led to the current arrangement of the...
(Ph.D. 1937) - Professor, Nobel laureate (1951) - Andrew StreitwieserAndrew StreitwieserAndrew Streitwieser is an American chemist known for his contributions to physical organic chemistry.Streitwieser was born in 1927 in Buffalo, New York and he grew up in New York City. He attended Columbia College and then Columbia University where he earned a PhD in the research group of William...
- Professor - Roger Y. TsienRoger Y. TsienRoger Yonchien Tsien is a Chinese American biochemist and a professor at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego...
- Professor (1982-1989), Nobel laureate (2008)
Notable alumni
- Harold C. Urey (Ph.D. 1923 Chemistry) - Nobel laureate (1934)
- Henry EyringHenry EyringHenry Eyring was a Mexican-born American theoretical chemist whose primary contribution was in the study of chemical reaction rates and intermediates....
- (Ph.D. 1927 Chemistry) - National Medal of ScienceNational Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
(1966) - Willis LambWillis LambWillis Eugene Lamb, Jr. was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1955 together with Polykarp Kusch "for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum". Lamb and Kusch were able to precisely determine certain electromagnetic properties of the electron...
(B.S. 1934 Chemistry) - Nobel laureate in Physics (1955) - Henry TaubeHenry TaubeHenry Taube, Ph.D, M.Sc, B.Sc, FRSC was a Canadian-born American chemist noted for having been awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "his work in the mechanisms of electron-transfer reactions, especially in metal complexes." He was the first Canadian-born chemist to win the Nobel Prize...
(Ph.D. 1940 Chemistry) - Nobel laureate (1983) - Gordon MooreGordon MooreGordon Earle Moore is the co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Intel Corporation and the author of Moore's Law .-Life and career:...
(B.S. 1950 Chemistry) - cofounder of Intel - Robert F. Curl, Jr. (Ph.D. 1957 Chemistry) - Nobel laureate (1996)
- Andrew GroveAndrew GroveAndrew Stephen Grove , is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American Businessman/ Engineer, Author & a science pioneer in the semiconductor industry. He escaped from Communist-controlled Hungary at the age of 20 and moved to the U.S., where he finished his education...
(Ph.D. 1963 Chemical Engineering) - cofounder of Intel - Mario Molina (Ph.D. 1972 Chemistry) - Nobel laureate (1995)
- Ahmed ZewailAhmed ZewailAhmed Hassan Zewail is an Egyptian-American scientist who won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry. He is the Linus Pauling Chair Professor Chemistry and Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology.- Birth and education :Ahmed Zewail was born on...
(Postdoc. 1974 Chemistry) - Nobel laureate (1999) - Thomas CechThomas CechThomas Robert Cech is a chemist who shared the 1989 Nobel prize in chemistry with Sidney Altman, for their discovery of the catalytic properties of RNA. Cech discovered that RNA could itself cut strands of RNA, which showed that life could have started as RNA...
(Ph.D. 1975 Chemistry) - Nobel laureate (1989) - Susan SolomonSusan SolomonSusan Solomon is an atmospheric chemist working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Solomon was one of the first to propose chlorofluorocarbons as the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole.Solomon is a member of the U.S...
(Ph.D. 1981 Atmospheric Chemistry) - Nobel Peace Prize (2007), National Medal of Science (1999)