Michael Botchan is the dean of biological sciences at UC Berkeley and a professor of biochemistry, biophysics, and structural biology. On June 30, Botchan will step down as dean and start a new life as faculty emeritus in the Graduate Division and senior advisor at the Innovative Genomics Institute. The prospect of a calmer role appears to delight him.
“Being dean is a 24/7 job,” said Botchan. “I'm looking forward to...
The College of Letters & Science Advisory Board has announced the recipients of the second annual L&S Faculty Awards, which recognizes and celebrates exceptional faculty in the College of Letters & Science. Awardees were selected for their exceptional scholarship, service to the College and community, and transformational teaching. These extraordinary individuals not only embody the excellence of the College of Letters & Science, but they...
At the conclusion of its annual gathering this week, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announced the election of 120 new members and 24 new international members, among them UC Berkeley's Abby Dernburg, professor of molecular and cell biology and a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).
Also elected was Ramamoorthy Ramesh, a professor of materials science and mineral engineering and of physics who recently took a leave of absence to serve as...
A physicist, a philosopher and a psychologist walk into a classroom.
Although it sounds like a premise for a joke, this was actually the origin of a unique collaboration between Nobel Prize–winning physicist Saul Perlmutter, philosopher John Campbell and the psychologist Rob MacCoun. Spurred by what they saw as a perilously rising tide of irrationality, misinformation and sociopolitical polarization, they teamed up in 2011 to create a multidisciplinary course at the University of California, Berkeley, with the modest goal of teaching undergraduate students how to think—more...
Six UC Berkeley researchers have been elected 2023 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals.
The honorees, announced today (Thursday, April 18), are among 502 scientists, engineers and innovators recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.
The new UC Berkeley members of the 2023 class of fellows...
Hannah Larson and John Cardy, two Berkeley researchers affiliated with the Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, were recognized at the 10th annual Breakthrough Prize Awards ceremony.
This past weekend, Hollywood stars and academic luminaries alike gathered at the 10th annual Breakthrough Prize Awards ceremony. Hosted by performer James Corden, this illustrious event cast a spotlight on the 2024 Breakthrough Prize laureates alongside a select group recognized from 2020-2023.
Hannah Larson, an assistant professor of mathematics at UC Berkeley, was among this year’s...
UC Berkeley History Professor John Connelly has been awarded a prestigious 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship. Connelly, who serves as the Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of European History, has made significant contributions to the field of European history through his extensive research and publications.
He currently directs Berkeley's Institute for East European, Eurasian, and Slavic Studies. Connelly, who holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University, published works that include “Captive University: The...
One hundred thousand years ago, you live in a small tribe preparing for the day’s hunt when suddenly a shadow crosses the sun, and all goes dark. For long terrifying minutes you ask yourselves: Is this the end? How can we survive? What will we eat? The sun returns, but the terror remains: What did we do to provoke the wrath of the gods?
The same location, 5,000 years ago, another tribe, another eclipse. But this time, an elder recalls a story she heard as a child about “a short day and a short night.” She announces that it has happened again, but that the sun will return. The tribe...
