Alumni

Leon Litwack honored with new speaker series

January 31, 2025
by Alexander Rony

UC Berkeley’s Department of History is recognizing one of its most beloved professors with a new speaker series devoted to African American history. The series extends the legacy of Leon Litwack, a trailblazing scholar who taught generations of students to peer behind the curtain of whitewashed narratives and learn difficult truths about their country’s past.

Few areas of scholarship are as contentious — and...

Roxana Wang Named Berkeley’s Sixteenth Schwarzman Scholar

January 29, 2025
Lauren Miller

Roxana (Qinhong) Wang, a recent graduate of the UC Berkeley class of 2024, has been awarded a 2025-26 Schwarzman Scholarship. Wang, who studied Comparative Literature and Ancient Greek and Roman Studies in the College of Letters & Science, was selected as one of 150 scholars from a pool of nearly 5,000 candidates. She is Berkeley’s sixteenth recipient of the award since its inception in 2013.

“Many highly qualified Berkeley students apply for the Schwarzman Scholarship every year, so it is impossible to predict who will be offered a place...

UC Berkeley study uncovers the mafia’s role in Italy’s wildfire crisis

December 9, 2024
By Aubrey Spowart

Over the past few years, raging wildfires in Italy have become a common and deadly occurrence. In Southern Italy, intense, record-breaking heat waves and dry scirocco winds create the perfect conditions for wildfires—both natural and coordinated.

In the paper “Land on fire: The spatial production of the mafia,” published in a special issue of "New Geographies of Organised Crime" in Criminology & Criminal Justice, UC Berkeley Geography Ph.D. student Lauren Pearson links...

UC Berkeley Social Sciences Young Alumni Council provides young graduates with essential networking resources

January 15, 2025
By Jessica Ballardo

The UC Berkeley Social Sciences Dean’s Office recently launched the Social Sciences Young Alumni Council to create an early-stage volunteer leadership opportunity for recent graduates and for them to benefit from the perspectives and guidance of these committed alumni. The council provides guidance on student- and young alumni-focused programs and ways the university may be a better resource for alumni.

The Social Sciences Young Alumni Council is open to recent university graduates and offers members access to events with senior-level alumni,...

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

January 10, 2025
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...

UC Berkeley Social Sciences alumni share career advice with students seeking internships

December 18, 2024
By Jessica Ballardo

UC Berkeley Social Sciences and other Cal alumni offer students helpful tips on navigating the job market and advice on breaking into a diverse array of fields.

As part of the Social Sciences Career Readiness Internship Program (SSCRIP) program, Social Sciences students receive valuable career advice from alumni in sectors such as nonprofit, finance, AI, tech, higher education...

Marianne Constable named inaugural Distinguished Rhetoric Faculty Fellow

December 17, 2024
by Alexander Rony

The Department of Rhetoric selected Marianne Constable as the inaugural recipient of the Distinguished Rhetoric Faculty Fellowship. Constable is a UC Berkeley professor, a leading authority in law and language, and a co-founder of the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities.

“Marianne Constable has amassed a glittering record in scholarship, teaching, and service over the course of her 34-year...

For the Purdoms, astronomy students are the real stars

December 12, 2024
by Alexander Rony

Ellin and Ned Purdom grew to appreciate astronomy later in life. Neither took astronomy courses in the 1970s while at UC Berkeley, where the two met. Now, they look forward to the Department of Astronomy’s Evening with the Stars lecture every year, and in February, the couple pledged $500,000 and a portion of their estate to advance student access and diversity in astronomy.

Psychology alumna and tech advisor Britt Sellin provides career tips for Social Sciences students and young alumni

January 10, 2025
By Jessica Ballardo

UC Berkeley Psychology alumna Britt Sellin says the social science theories she learned as a Berkeley Social Sciences student — such as researching how people think and behave — have been essential to her 30-plus-year career as a human resources leader in the tech industry.

Sellin’s long career in HR has been focused on high-growth tech companies, with her holding senior positions at Cloudera, VMware and Sun Microsystems. Now, Sellin is a professional coach and mentor, as well as an advisor at SproutsAI, an AI agent platform that automates...

Giving back to UC Berkeley Social Sciences is my family tradition

January 6, 2025
By Staci Pastis

Stephan and I met in 1989 as undergraduates at UC Berkeley’s Social Sciences Division, just before the destructive Loma Prieta earthquake struck. It’s an easy anniversary to remember.

He was a political science major, and I was studying history. Stephan had plans to attend law school, but I was uncertain about my path after graduation. People often asked me, "What will you do with a history degree?" Back then, it seemed like people assumed history majors could only go into teaching.

Our time at Cal reshaped our...