Alumni

Celebrating UC Berkeley’s 2025–26 National Scholarship and Fellowship Recipients

May 25, 2026

Composite of 18 headshots

We would like to wrap up the 2025–2026 academic year by congratulating all of the current Cal Bears and recent alums who received nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships this academic year, as well as those who submitted strong applications for more than 30 scholarship and fellowship programs our office supports.

Scholarship Recipients (pictured left to right, top to...
https://scholarships.berkeley.edu/2025-2026-scholarships-wrap-up/

Political science alum confirmed as ambassador to Sri Lanka

May 19, 2026
by Alexander Rony

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Eric Meyer as ambassador to Sri Lanka. Meyer is a political science graduate from UC Berkeley who was confirmed alongside 48 other nominees.

Office of Development and College Relations

The L&S Development and College Relations Office is responsible for raising private support for all L&S departments from alumni and friends, corporations, and foundations, and provides leadership and assistance to the campus community.

The College of Letters & Science is made up of five academic divisions, each with their own funding opportunities, priorities, and development directors. Scroll down to learn more about each division, the different funds you can donate to, and for contact information of L&S development directors.

Arts & Humanities...

"Put Yourself Out There": Brandon '18 on Finding Your Career and Community at UC Berkeley

October 29, 2025
Michelle Phillips
L&S Alum Spotlight:
Brandon Weiss '18 (he/him) Major: Integrative Biology: Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology

"College is just as much about figuring out who you are as a person as it is learning in the classroom," shares Brandon Weiss '18. From discovering a passion for veterinary medicine in the Pre-Vet Club at Berkeley, to meeting and proposing to his fiancé on campus, and now thriving in a meaningful career in emergency and critical care medicine for animals, Brandon has built a life full of joyful community and enduring connections.

Author and alum Valerie Williams-Sanchez (English B.A. '92) on the power of diverse narratives

January 10, 2025
Michelle Phillips
Valerie Williams-Sanchez, Ph.D., is a UC Berkeley alum who graduated with an English degree in 1992. Today, Valerie is a consultant, researcher, publisher, and creator of the children’s picture book series, Cocoa Kids Collection®.

In this interview, Valerie shares the inspiration for her self-published series, Cocoa Kids Collection, which centers minority and multiracial children as they "tackle big issues with wit, whimsy, and chocolate." Read on to learn how Valerie's experience at UC Berkeley has influenced her work and research, and to...

Maureen Orth’s 60-Year Fight for Education Innovation in Colombia Comes Full Circle at the BSE

May 5, 2026

In the fall of 1963, a man with a bullhorn showed up at Sather Gate and changed Maureen Orth’s (B.A. Political Science ‘64) life.

He was recruiting for the newly minted Peace Corps, and Orth—a self-described news junkie who had studied six years of French and not a word of Spanish—had just one condition: “Have you got programs for urban people?”

They did. A few months after graduating, she was on a plane to a city she had never heard of, Medellín, Colombia, with no idea that decision would define the next six decades of her life.

More than 60 years later, she has...

https://bse.berkeley.edu/maureen-orth-foundation-bse

From Wall Street to AI startups, political economy alumni highlight value of interdisciplinary thinking

April 23, 2026
By Jessica Park

For many students, choosing a major may feel like choosing a lane. But at UC Berkeley, a recent panel argued the opposite: political economy isn’t a lane — it’s a launchpad.

“You are uniquely built to find a problem and then build a career around trying to solve it,” Political Economy alum Paras Maniar said.

Maniar and other political economy alumni in finance, tech and sustainability shared their career experiences and offered students entrepreneurial advice during a recent panel discussion, highlighting how an...

Astronomy alum pens play about the Hubble Deep Field

April 21, 2026
by Alexander Rony

When Chalmers Hardenbergh first saw the Hubble Deep Field, he was astounded. The iconic image revealed thousands of distant galaxies.

From first-gen student to congressional intern: How Social Sciences internship program helped a sociology alumna

April 21, 2026
By Jessica Ballardo

For many first-generation students, the transition from the classroom to the professional world is uncharted territory. For Sociology and Public Policy Alumna Joselyn Espinoza, the Social Sciences Career Readiness Internship Program (SSCRIP) provided the bridge she needed to turn those challenges into high-level opportunities with prominent California leaders.

Espinoza, who served as a congressional intern for Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D...

What shapes our view of Black protest? It’s not what you think

April 10, 2026
By Bessy Gomez

A UC Berkeley African American Studies alumnus’ research is reframing how Black protest is understood by arguing that public perception is shaped less by protest itself and more by how it is presented and interpreted.

In his study, “What Does Black Protest Appear to Be?,” published in the Journal of the Cultural Studies Association, African American Studies Alumnus Kevin Rigby...