By Chancellor Carol T. Christ and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Benjamin E. Hermalin
The following message was shared with the UC Berkeley community on June 27, 2024.
Dear Colleagues,
The search for the next dean of the Division of Biological Sciences is ongoing; we remain optimistic that we will be able to share news regarding the dean search in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we are grateful to Senior Associate Dean Richard M. Harland, who has graciously agreed to step into the dean role on an interim basis effective July 1, 2024.
In an announcement today (Wednesday, June 12), the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters named two University of California, Berkeley, faculty members — Doris Ying Tsao, professor of molecular and cell biology, and Armand Paul Alivisatos, professor emeritus of chemistry — winners of 2024 Kavli Prizes in the fields of neuroscience and nanoscience, respectively.
The Academy recognizes excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and to work together to cultivate art and science.
“We honor these artists, scholars, scientists, and leaders in the public,...
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...
This year's campuswide spring ceremony took place on May 11, 2024, at the California Memorial Stadium. Cynthia "Cynt" Marshall, UC Berkeley alumna and CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, delivered this year's commencement address. Despite the backdrop of chants and protests from graduates opposing the war in Gaza, the ceremony largely proceeded as planned. Within the College of Letters & Science, many departments hosted smaller, more...
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...
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...
