2021 C O L L E G E O F C H E M I S T RY IMPACT REPORT
DEAN’S REPORT
Douglas S. Clark DEAN, COLLEGE OF CHEMISTRY GILBERT N. LEWIS PROFESSOR
Dear Supporters of the College of Chemistry, It is so wonderful to see students bringing life to campus again after eighteen months of isolation. In some ways, we’ve picked up right where we left off; in other ways, there’s been a permanent shift in the routine of our daily lives. Whatever the case, the back-to-school mood in the College of Chemistry remains exciting, hopeful, and encouraging. This enduring optimism for novel collaboration and advancing world-class chemistry and chemical engineering research is made possible by your generous philanthropic support. We continue to make good progress towards funding Heathcock Hall, a modern teaching and research facility named in honor of former dean Clayton Heathcock that will define the campus’s eastern entrance and gateway to the chemistry complex. Pioneer Material Precision Tech (PMP Tech), a Taiwan-based manufacturer of elastomers and other rubber products for consumer electronics, recently made an extraordinary $10 million commitment to help construct the worldclass facility. We seek additional partnership – with a special focus on supporting research leading to disease prevention, climate sustainability, and new-age materials – to ensure that we fully fund this essential capital project in the coming year. The college received a number of notable donations this year from both individuals and corporations. Chemistry Professor Emeritus Sung-Hou Kim and his wife, Rosalind Kim, became Builders of Berkeley members this year, donating $1M over time. Alumni David Gee and David Lieu established the Summer Bridge program, which had its first cohort this year. We secured four corporate sponsorships--from Chevron, Merck, Lam Research, and Applied Materials--totaling $25,000 to help expand the Chemistry Alumni Mentorship Program, which will provide alumni mentorship to 50+ undergraduate transfer students this year. You can read about these wonderful gifts and more in greater detail in the following pages. Two new faculty joined us in July: Professor Joelle Frechette, working in the area of adhesion and materials design, in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Assistant Professor Brooks Abel, working in the area of polymer design and synthesis, in the Department of Chemistry. Thanks to your generous giving, we were able to ensure that they hit the ground running as they establish their labs at Berkeley. Since my last update, the college has welcomed Chief DE&I Officer Brice Yates to the chemistry community. Brice has assembled an advisory committee including students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and together they have completed our college’s first Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Strategic Plan (chemistry.berkeley.edu/diversity). This five-year plan identifies several key DE&I initiatives that will greatly benefit from philanthropic support in order to come to fruition. Always looking ahead, we are eager to commemorate the College of Chemistry’s 150th anniversary in 2022 with a 150th Anniversary Celebration event in the spring and a celebratory fundraising campaign. I continue to be grateful beyond words for the essential role that philanthropy has played in making the college the best place to be for chemistry and chemical engineering research and education in the world.
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Dean’s Report
2 Capital Campaign 4 Student Experience Update 8 Corporate and Philanthropic Giving 10 Your Gifts (Light the Way Campaign) 12 Alumni Gifts and Support 16 Diversity Update 18 Planned Gifts 20 College Leadership 21 Honor Rolls/In Memoriam
© 2021, Regents of the University of California
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CAPITAL CAMPAIGN
Heathcock Hall update
PMP Tech gifts $10M to the Heathcock Hall project A $10 million commitment from Taiwan-based company Pioneer Material Precision Tech (PMP Tech) headed up by Rubber and Joy Chen will help catalyze educational opportunities for future generations of Berkeley chemistry, chemical engineering, and chemical biology students and help realize a vision of constructing this groundbreaking building to house the world’s most advanced community of chemical scientists and engineers. PMP Tech adds their support along with Terry (Ph.D. ’85, Chem) and Tori Rosen, BASF, Dow Chemical, and other institutions and friends to the growing number of donors for the new building. Chancellor Carol Christ said of the gift, “Heathcock Hall is vital to the College of Chemistry’s educational and research mission and Berkeley’s capacity to change the world. This extraordinary commitment from PMP Tech will truly make a difference in advancing the project forward and is particularly heartening as we look ahead to recovery from the pandemic.
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NAMING OPPORTUNITIES FOR HEATHCOCK HALL $15M Research Laboratory Floor $10M Faculty Research Laboratory $10M Teaching and Learning Center $10M Plaza $10M Chemistry Steps $5M Virtual Learning Center $1M Laboratory Conference Room Meeting Hub
CONSIDER A NAMING OPPORTUNITY Join the growing number of alumni and friends of the College helping our faculty and students as they revolutionize the chemical sciences.
CONTACT MINDY REX TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE OPPORTUNITIES: rex@berkeley.edu or (510) 326-4424
We are educating the next generation of scientists discovering: • cures for infectious disease, • more efficient catalysts for use in sustainable production, • high-performing fuel cells, • new materials that capture harmful chemicals from the air, • e fficient storage and conversion of chemicals to useful products, • ways to break the chain of plastics pollution, • new chemical concepts no one has even thought of yet. These are among the groundbreaking advances envisioned to take place in Heathcock Hall with your help. So give generously and allow us to break ground in 2023.
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STUDENT EXPERIENCE UPDATE
Alumni fund new College of Chemistry Summer Bridge course for incoming freshman
The College inaugurated a new five-year Summer Bridge program this year thanks to very generous gifts totaling $600K from Dr. David Gee (B.S. ’76, Chem; MD ’80, UCSF) and his wife Caryn Lum and Dr. David Lieu (B.S. ’75, Chem; MD ’79, UC Irvine, MBA ‘99) and his wife Diana Lieu. UC Berkeley’s Summer Bridge is intended to serve a diverse community of entering undergraduates in a six-week in-depth academic preparatory program. The College’s new course has been designed to help aspiring chemistry students who were unable to pursue advanced chemistry coursework in high school. Their tuition and residence were fully supported via the scholarship. The College welcomed an introductory cohort of 13 incoming freshman chemistry students who participated in the course: Preparation for Chemistry for College of Chemistry Majors. The six-week, rapid-paced labs and lectures introduced the students to laboratory techniques and etiquette, review of chemistry content knowledge, and promotion of good study habits. The students were immersed in the program
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David Gee
“ Chem 196 has David Lieu allowed me to revisit my love for chemistry all while challenging me in both lab and lecture. I absolutely love the Friday community discussions. Each story, research presentation, and person opened up my mind to the infinite possibilities of what I can do in the future. I can’t wait to continue falling in love with chemistry as the course progresses!” — LILIANA
five days a week. Students arrived on campus in late June, moved into the dorms, and began attending lectures in Tan Hall in early July. The course was taught by fifth-year chemistry graduate students Jade Fostvedt and Katie Blackford. Professor Anne Baranger, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, served as faculty advisor. Michelle Douskey, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, consulted on the lab program. Further support came from undergraduate peer tutor Ariel Wang, a chemical biology major. BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR SUCCESS Dr. Gee and Dr. Lieu started the conversation a couple of years ago about funding the Summer Bridge program. Dr. Lieu states, “David initiated the idea. He had been discussing funding proposals with the College and really liked the Summer Bridge program because of its focus on students who
could use the extra training as they started in chemistry. He approached me and we decided to co-fund it.” Dr. Gee and Dr. Lieu’s experience growing up as first-generation Americans in Chinese immigrant families had a profound impact on their own educations and careers. They both arrived at the College as undergraduates within a year of each other. They became good friends with remarkable shared experiences. Both of their fathers were “Paper Sons”. Born in Guangdong Province, they came to the United States by purchasing documentation which stated they had Chinese American relatives here who were U.S. Citizens. At the time, there was no other way for the Chinese to immigrate because of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. Dr. Lieu grew up in San Francisco; Dr. Gee in Fresno. Both Doctors’ parents were from rural farming communities and worked in the service industry. Their tremendous hard work resulted in four children from each family receiving college educations at Berkeley. Dr. Gee states, “My father was drafted into the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was granted U.S. Citizenship because of his service. Mei, one of my two sisters born in China, immigrated afterwards. Three of us were born in Fresno. All four of us wound up going to the College of Chemistry. Mei was first. She made the extraordinary leap of transferring to Berkeley from the local junior college. It was unthinkable to go to Berkeley. I mean it was totally out of the realm. My father was able to fund all four of us going to Berkeley on a combination of California State Scholarships and his own hard work.”
Dr. Lieu’s scholarship experience was very different. “I was the oldest of four boys and the first to go to college. All four of us went to Berkeley. Unlike most of the students at Berkeley at the time, I commuted every day from San Francisco. BART was just starting, and unreliable, so for me it was a three-hour round-trip by bus. Because my parents had no experience with the U.S. College system, they had no idea that financial aid was available. They paid for my undergraduate tuition in full. I lived at home and worked parttime.” Dr. Lieu was expecting to go onto graduate school in chemistry and become a professor. “I thought I was going to become a physical chemist. On a lark, I took the MCAT as a freshman. I did well on the science portion and decided to apply to medical school to see what would happen and I got in. I was also accepted into the Ph.D. program in chemistry at Berkeley and several other schools but decided to change course.” Today, he is an assistant clinical professor of pathology at UCLA and founder and operator of Fine Needle Aspiration Medical Group in Alhambra, CA. Dr. Gee went on to UCSF for his medical training. After 30 years as a staff cardiologist at the Kaiser Walnut Creek Medical Center, he retired from full time
“ Without this class I wouldn’t have met my instructors or peer tutor, and without them I wouldn’t have a clue as to how to pursue my dreams. This summer has been the bees’ knees!” —M ARCUS
medical practice in 2015. He has been an IMQ hospital surveyor since 2001 and was Chief of Utilization Management at both Kaiser Walnut Creek and Kaiser Antioch Hospitals. Currently he consults in the areas of utilization management, hospital accreditation, and performance improvement. The two men lost touch after completing their undergraduate degrees. They reconnected about 15 years ago during a Cal Parent event on campus as they both had children who were then going to Berkeley. They ran into each other at other Cal events as well. This time they stayed in touch. Dr. Gee states, “We were both very interested in giving back to the College. We saw the program as important because if you can expose incoming students to the academic skills, which is what the Summer Bridge program focuses on, but also give them social, psychological, and peer support, that will help them through the rough times. It’s getting them past that first one to two years that is really important.”
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STUDENT EXPERIENCE UPDATE
Lester Andrews establishes the Pimentel Research Scientist Award
PHOTO BY C. TODD REICHART; COURTESY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY.
The inaugural award was presented to physical chemist Dr. Ashley Fidler who received her Ph.D. in 2020. Ashley is now a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Professor Marissa Weichman at Princeton where she will spearhead polariton research in the lab, applying her experience in ultrafast spectroscopy, instrument building, and experimental design to assist in launching the new group. Ashely was a joint Ph.D. student with Professors Stephen Leone and Daniel Neumark. She joined one of the most complex laboratories of these two large groups. The team was focused on the challenging experimental effort to create a few hundred attosecond pulses (1 attosecond = 10-18 sec) in the extreme ultraviolet and to use them for nonlinear wave mixing experiments to obtain background-free signals of time-dependent processes. Ashley measured the dynamics of few-femtosecond and subfemtosecond electronic processes in atoms and small molecules. In this context, her work pushed the limits of time resolution achievable in any laboratory today. Ashley Fidler
“Late in the summer of 2019, I was on campus and walking from the I-House to Lewis Hall recalling the good times I had working with George (Pimentel). I thought about working with heavier metals in my own lab at the University of Virginia and the good start that I had working with George. At Berkeley, I had reconfigured an apparatus to use the new closed cycle refrigerators and avoid using liquid hydrogen as a cryogenic coolant. It was during that walk when I first thought of endowing a Pimentel Research Scientist Award for the top physical chemistry graduate student in their final year to remember George!” —LESTER ANDREWS The Pimentel Research Scientist Award was established at the College in 2020 by Professor Emeritus Lester Andrews (Ph.D. ’66, Chem) and is intended to provide funding to a preeminent graduate student in their last year of research at UC Berkeley.
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Scientifically, she was a leader in the groups, establishing new scientific directions and the first to use attosecond four wave mixing to measure time decaying features, to isolate fewfemtosecond time delays in the formation of transient gratings in measurements, and to study wave mixing with attosecond extreme ultraviolet pulses in solids. Professor of Chemistry and Physics Stephen Leone stated, “Ashley Fidler is a rare individual who exhibits the key characteristics of a future leader: high intellect, outstanding experimental skills, a deep understanding of important scientific problems, and a drive for science. She is on an accelerated pace for a major role in the future. Her dissertation is a remarkable exposé of a whole new field, attosecond four wave mixing, as applied to chemical dynamics.” “This award was extremely helpful in launching the next phase of her career, where she garnered a Princeton Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship for work in Marissa Weichman’s laboratory.” Professor Andrews recalls his own experience working with George Pimentel in an article on the College’s website at chemistry.berkeley.edu/andrews
TAIWAN FELLOWSHIP
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office extends fellowships to Taiwanese graduate students for a fourth year The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in San Francisco, one of Taiwan’s missions in the United States, was established to foster business, cultural, and educational development between the U.S. Northwest and Taiwan. Part of that exchange is the support of the Taiwan’s Ministry of Education programs. The College of Chemistry gratefully acknowledges TECO’s Taiwan – College of Chemistry, UC Berkeley Fellowship (fellowship) which assists Taiwanese graduate students studying at the College. The Taiwan Ministry of Education also has a program that funds American students who plan to study in Taiwan.
appreciate the College of Chemistry. The students feel the College takes care of them. We are interested in the next generation of Taiwanese students having a diverse educational experience overseas. Attending UC Berkeley is a wonderful opportunity for them to get an excellent education while enjoying the cultural experience of living in the beautiful Bay Area with all it has to offer.”
This year, five Taiwanese graduate students in the Chemistry and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering departments are benefiting from fellowships. Jennifer Chu, Senior Education Officer at TECO in San Francisco, commented, “We really
Ms. Chu continues, “We are very interested in our students being enriched by an international education. We feel more students should be going abroad to college.”
The Taiwan Ministry of Education covers 50% of the students’ educational and personal costs for one year. The College is very grateful for the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Chen and PMP Tech, who are matching the other half.
“I am truly grateful to the Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco and Mr. and Mrs. Chen for making my fellowship possible. The support has allowed me to focus on doing my research, learning, and pursuing a Ph.D. at UC Berkeley. Their generosity has deeply inspired me to help and give back to the community whenever possible.” —T ZU-YANG HUANG (4TH YEAR CHEME GRADUATE STUDENT, MCCLOSKEY LAB)
LIBRARY UPDATE
$135k
The Chemistry Library gets an update thanks to generous donors
The College gratefully acknowledges a lead gift of $100K from Ronald Silva (B.S. ’76, Chem) and Lauren Silva, and additional gifts from Alan Templeton, Sher Godfrey Singh (B.S.’64, Chem) and Jean Younis, and an anonymous donor, for a commitment of $135k to renovate the Chemistry Library. The gift from Ron and Lauren Silva was made in honor of Professor Emeritus Andrew Streitwieser. Prof. Streitwieser is an organic chemist who did research and taught at Berkeley from 1952 to 1999.
Undergraduate Dean John Arnold commented, “The Chemistry Library was overdue for a renovation to account for changes in how library space is used as a result of how technology has changed the way we use online books and journals, and how we search the literature. In addition, the new furniture and layout reflects the growth of peer learning and team study in many courses.” The renovated library reopened at the start of the semester and has seen a substantial increase in numbers of students using the new space.
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CORPORATE & PHILANTHROPIC GIVING
$10k
Now in its second year, the Chemistry Alumni Mentorship Program (CAMP) offers an exciting introduction to the commercial side of chemistry for our incoming transfer students. The program is intended to build a sense of belonging and inclusion with fellow College students and is one of the programs to be developed out of the new Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging initiatives that began this year. The program is corporate sponsored. Our 2021 cohort of students and mentors includes 33 alumni mentors and 36 transfer student mentees. Thanks to our wonderful alumni mentors, we were able to accept every student who applied to the program this year.
Our program sponsors, Chevron, Merck, Lam, and Applied Materials were interested in offering professional development opportunities to undergrads to help them get an earlier start in understanding what kinds of career opportunities will be available after graduation. The mentors are sharing their wealth of experience with the students covering topics including overviews of companies, resume writing tips and practice, interview prep, and other skills and information that will help the students as they plan their educational journey and future work life decisions.
ME NTO R S
27% CHEMISTRY
3% CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
70% CHEMICAL ENGINEERING ME NTE E S
42% CHEMISTRY 44% CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 8
14% CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
total program support: $25k
$705k $5k
“ My mentor pairing has been one of the most life-changing experiences. I’ve gained deeper insights on my future career options and now better understand my academic preparation to get where I want. My mentor has provided me an objective perspective on my plans and directions of my life goals. CAMP has done an excellent job pairing me with my mentor based on our interests and personality — I would strongly recommend this opportunity to everyone!” — WILLIAM (CAMP MENTEE ’21)
Agilent Technologies establishes the Agilent Biodesign Program Agilent Technologies (Agilent) has gifted the College $705K in support of the Agilent Biodesign Program (ABP). Agilent, a global leader in life science, diagnostics, and analytical laboratory technologies, provides trusted answers to help customers solve their most ambitious scientific challenges. The program will be supported by UC Berkeley Professors Wenjun Zhang (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) and John Dueber (Bioengineering) along with Dr. Chong Wing Yung of Agilent. The research will focus on the science of biodesign. ABP continues a strong tradition of partnership between Berkeley and Agilent, succeeding a 10-year collaboration via the Synthetic Biology Institute (SBI). Created in 2010, the first program focused on research for production of new biological systems. Through the combined effort of the researchers, partners, and industry members, SBI worked toward developing standards and technologies needed to create transformative applications in energy, materials, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food products, and security. Along with lab research, the new program will sponsor semiannual symposia organized for the purpose of sharing research between the organizations’ participants to help stimulate the research program.
“ I greatly enjoyed being a mentor this year. I absolutely believe that mentoring is key to providing students with awareness of all the opportunities available to them after they graduate. I wish I had this program to help me when I was an undergrad.” — CONNIE (CAMP MENTOR ’21)
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Your Gifts
For the 2020-21 fiscal year Annual Fund, the College of Chemistry received a total of
$1.64M from
2,847 gifts 1,464 donors $1,137 Average gift $200 Median gift
Annual Fund Giving by Designation 955 Donors
$792,000 229 Donors
Department of Chemistry
$159,000
267 Donors
$444,000 126 Donors
$100,000 79 Donors
$125,000
11 Donors
$20,000
College of Chemistry
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Undergraduate Students & Program Fund Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Wellness Dean’s Strategic Initiatives
Largest Annual Fund Pledges & Gifts Nirmal Chatterjee
Duck Yang
David Gee
CBE Department
Dean’s Strategic Initiatives
Undergraduate Students & Programs
$150,000
Leadership Society Level Gifts ($1K+)
$1.3M
Total from 415 donors Average gift $3,377
10
$80,000
$50,000
Donations
Big Give
<$1K
(Min: $10 Max: $5K)
$340,000
Total from 1,252 donors Average gift $278
$75,000
Total from 276 donors Average gift $272
Goal $250M Raised to date $160M from
4,380 donors
Fund Type 73% 13% 14%
$117M Operationg Fund $21M Endowment $22M Other
Campaign Summary 18,479 Gifts and Pledges $5M
2014
$14M
2015
$17M
2016
$14M
2017
$10M
2018
$29M
2019
$45M
2020
$26M
2021
Campaign Priorities $31M
Faculty and graduate students
$12M
Undergraduate opportunity and experience
$32M
Research for the public good
$52M
Places of possibility
Who is giving $78M
Alumni
$35M
Friends
$19M
Corporations
$15M
Parents
$13M
Foundations
3,324 Donors 477 Donors 93 Donors
459 Donors 27 Donors
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ALUMNI GIFTS AND SUPPORT
Join the new College Alumni Board Attention all College Alumni who are early movers, shakers, and rising stars. The College is establishing a new Alumni Board and we are hoping to hear from you! We are looking for young alumni who can provide strategic advice and leadership on how the College should further engage mid-career alumni, enhance corporate relations, and increase leadership-level giving to our annual funds. As a Board member you should be interested in participating in the following: • Provide supportive leadership for the College, • Act as corporate, regional, or university liaisons, • Participate in online alumni panel discussions, • Promote the College via social media,
• P rovide mentorship to current students via the Chemistry Alumni Mentorship Program, • Set a precedent for others by annually giving $1,000+ to the College, and • Participate in semi-annual meetings and an annual dinner.
WHY GIVING BACK IS IMPORTANT “ I wanted to deepen my connection to Berkeley and the College of Chemistry. My experience was so formative and important, and I got help from so many mentors while I was on campus. It feels right to pay it forward and continue to create the amazing environment that Berkeley’s College of Chemistry truly is. I hope this new group can set realistic and achievable goals that moves the needle in terms of increasing alumni engagement and connection to the College. It’s no secret Berkeley chemistry/chemical engineering is one of the premier set of programs in the country. I feel we can do a better job at keeping that front of mind for people.” — WAYNE SACKETT (B.S. ’06, CHEME) – INAUGURAL CO-CHAIR
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“ Since graduating in 2014, I’ve sought opportunities to contribute my time and skills back to the University and the College. I owe an enormous amount of my success personally and professionally to the College and the connections I made there and feel a desire to contribute back to the greater community. There is such an unbridled depth of talent and diversity in our alumni waiting for the right purposeful and aligned engagement. I hope to formulate a culture of philanthropy and service amongst the Alumni Board and wider alumni community. My vision is to provide a deeper, more streamlined connection between the College and our alumni.” —R OSS CROCKETT (B.S. ’14, CHEME) – INAUGURAL CO-CHAIR
Sung-Hou and Rosalind Kim BUILDERS of BERKELEY
In their 53 years of marriage, Professor of the Graduate School Sung-Hou Kim and his wife Rosalind have shared one significant trait: a passion for the transformative power of education. When Sung-Hou emigrated to the United States from Korea, he was the first in his family to attend college. It was at MIT that he met Rosalind; Sung-Hou was a postdoctoral fellow, and Rosalind was taking part in a co-op from Antioch College in Ohio. Rosalind, who is of Chinese descent and grew up in Cuba, initially wasn’t sure about the life Sung-Hou imagined out West. “I didn’t want to come, because California has earthquakes,” she says. “But it was the right move.” After seven years at Duke University, they moved to Berkeley in 1978 where Sung-Hou taught chemistry for more than 40 years at the College of Chemistry. He is now a researcher and Professor of the Graduate School. Rosalind worked as an associate specialist in the Calvin Laboratory, specializing in cloning and purifying proteins for X-ray crystallography studies.
Sung-Hou directed one of five national centers for the Protein Structure Initiative, funded by the National Institutes of Health in an attempt to map the protein structure universe. His laboratory also determined the 3-D structures of some of the key molecules in a cell’s survival and replication, such as transfer RNA as a genetic code translator, and Ras proteins and protein kinases as signal transducers. These structures played important roles in the development of new drugs to fight cancers and other diseases. The Kims’ professional lives benefitted from fellowships and research grants. “Over the years, we have always given back,” says Sung-Hou, a professor emeritus who continues to do research as a professor of graduate studies in the College. The couple has long made financial contributions across a wide swath of the Berkeley experience — including scholarships to support students who are the first in their families to attend Berkeley, the University Library, and research programs in chemistry and other research topics.
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ALUMNI GIFTS AND SUPPORT
Alumni Wayne Sackett and Alisa Arunamata establish endowment in honor of their children Wayne Sackett (B.S. ’06, ChemE) and Dr. Alisa Arunamata (B.A. ’05, MCB) have established the Andrew T. and Elizabeth A. Sackett Endowment Fund in honor of their children. The fund is intended for use by the College’s Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department.
“Earning our degrees in science from Berkeley laid the foundation for us to think systematically and rigorously in all aspects of our life, while maintaining sight of high-level strategy,” says Wayne, who graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 2006. The years obtaining his degree were formative to his world view, “I learned how to analyze complex problems with disorganized data and boil it down to just one or two important concepts.” Alisa agrees. After graduating from Berkeley in 2005 with a degree in Molecular and Cell Biology she moved on to medical school at New York University
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE SACKETT FAMILY.
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where she earned her M.D. in 2009. “Berkeley’s academic demands proved to me that I was capable of successfully pursuing a career in medicine, and the important foundations I learned in college quickly became apparent in my first year of medical school.”
learner. I have relied heavily on this throughout my career.” However, Berkeley is much more than a college to them. It also happens to be where they first met during their sophomore year in 2004 . “We’ll always remember our dates, getting nachos at La Burrita and then studying all night at Moffitt Library,” Wayne and Alisa laugh.
When asked to reflect on lessons from her time at Cal, Alisa states, “There is no shortage of faculty and colleagues willing to mentor you, but you need to take advantage of these opportunities, connections, and the incredible network that exists while you are there.”
Settling in California was always the plan for Alisa. She returned home to the Bay Area in 2009 for her residency in pediatrics, pediatric cardiology fellowship, and advanced imaging fellowship focusing on echocardiography - all at Stanford Hospital. Today, she is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Pediatric Cardiology at Stanford University School of Medicine and leads the fellowship program and inpatient acute cardiac unit.
She continues, “We hope we can show people that there is so much that can be accomplished with a degree from Berkeley. The path you take in your career might not be straightforward, but it can be deeply satisfying.”
After Wayne earned his undergraduate degree, his first job was as a process engineer at an oil refinery. However, he quickly turned his attention to business and finance learning how to raise capital, execute transactions, evaluate opportunities and, importantly, how to build enduring and great businesses while working in investment banking and private equity. He went back to graduate school, earning his M.B.A. at Harvard. “After Harvard, I felt an undeniable pull to return to my roots in biotech,” Wayne says. In 2015, Wayne joined the startup, MyoKardia, eventually serving as Head of Business Development and Corporate Strategy. The company discovered and advanced a novel small molecule drug candidate, Mavacamten, for the potential treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a rare and debilitating heart condition. As an early employee, he helped shepherd the company’s strategy, growth and development, culminating in Bristol Myers Squibb acquiring the company in 2020 for $13.1 billion. “It is amazing how many different career trajectories you can take with a chemical engineering degree,” Wayne comments. “It is not a textbook discipline, where you master a set of finite and fixed concepts; instead it is all about how to continue learning. I am deeply curious and consider myself a lifelong
“When we decided to create this fund, we knew we would name it after Andrew and Elizabeth,” Wayne states. “This upcoming generation has an incredibly bright and optimistic future, largely due to breakthroughs in the scientific and medical fields. We also hope that it can serve as an example for our children to embrace the values of generosity and appreciation. We are fortunate to have careers that allow us to pursue our passions. Berkeley was a big reason for that, and we want to create opportunities for others by giving back.”
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DIVERSITY UPDATE
The College kicks off 5-year Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging plan During the 2021 spring semester, the College of Chemistry developed a 5-year Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Strategic Plan with many stakeholders from the College’s faculty, students, and staff. The plan is comprised of four major goals that the College aspires to accomplish. Enhance diversity in the College at all levels through increased recruitment of students, faculty, and staff that are broadly representative of the diverse population of California. Sustain diversity in the College by ensuring an inclusive climate, welcoming to all students, faculty, and staff regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability status.
During the spring semester the College launched the Graduate Diversity Program, with 29 students working in 11 groups, developing programs and initiatives that focused on:
Build on the inclusive climate in the College to maximize the retention, graduation, and diverse career opportunities of undergraduate majors and graduate students, eliminating disparity in access and opportunities among diverse groups.
recruiting and supporting diversity in the College graduate population, and
Implement best practices for mentoring and career development for faculty and staff that promote equitable opportunities for academic and career success.
The new Summer Bridge program (see page 4), launched this year with support from alumni David Gee and David Lieu and their families, was developed to support incoming first year undergraduates to succeed and become part of the College community. Thirteen students were a part of the first cohort. Also, a mentoring program to connect incoming transfer students to graduate student and alumni mentors was initiated and will continue to expand in upcoming years (see page 8).
Having a pulse on the College climate is integral as we continue to enhance our DEIB programs. An undergraduate climate survey was developed this year to measure areas of strength, weakness and opportunities related to DEIB. The Chemistry Department’s Chemistry Graduate Life Committee continues
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to administer their annual Departmental Climate survey and accompanying Sense of Belonging survey. The CBE Department’s Graduate Student Advisory Committee has administered their annual Graduate Student Report on Climate Survey. These surveys help grow the College’s understanding of the important issues and concerns about diversity, equity, and inclusion from our undergrad and graduate students.
improving and supporting the pipeline into graduate school,
working with College leadership to improve the climate of the College.
The College is currently seeking donations for the following DEIB opportunities $320,000 Summer Research Experiences for students
from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI). The HBCU and HSI Summer Research Experience is a planned 8–10 week program for HBCU and HSI undergraduate students to gain valuable research experience in an academic setting at Berkeley. The program will host rising sophomores and juniors. Participants will engage in original research guided by faculty in Berkeley’s stateof-the-art research facilities. As part of the program, students will attend presentations, workshops, and seminars related to career planning, industry, and graduate school applications. The program will culminate with a research symposium.
$60,000 Building Connections with HBCU and HSI
institutions. The College is working to establish partnerships with HBCU and HSI institutions to recruit minoritized students to our graduate programs. Currently, we have identified and received confirmation from four HBCUs and four HSIs who are now engaged to serve as partners. To build this partnership, College of Chemistry faculty will present annual seminars at the partner institutions. Our faculty will have the opportunity to engage with students as well as faculty while on site.
$564,000 Discovery Project for Transfer Students. We are
transforming the experience of transfer students within the College to help guide, develop, and engage their creativity and discovery spanning the two years they are in the undergraduate
program. Because transfer students typically enter UC Berkeley as juniors, they encounter numerous barriers to developing their research and mentor experiences. It is imperative the College builds programming to support their full development. The Discovery Project is building on successful pilot programs that have been run by the College and Berkeley Lab. $171,000 Graduate Diversity Program. Currently, the Chemistry Graduate Diversity Program is supported by a grant from the Graduate Division through 2024. This funding request is to support the program through 2027. Each year, a cohort of graduate students interested in contributing significantly to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion within the College submits proposals to this program. The program provides one year of structured support and a stipend for graduate students to work on their proposals, build expertise in the published literature of effective methodology in this area, and create a supportive community of scholars for ongoing discussions and engagement about diversity. A second component of this program supports one graduate student who becomes more deeply engaged professionally in DEIB activities and scholarship. Contact Mindy Rex to learn more about these opportunities: rex@berkeley.edu or (510) 326-4424
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PLANNED GIFTS
James Trainham and Linda Diane Waters designate major bequest to the College James (Jim) Trainham (B.S. ’73, Ph.D. ’79, ChemE) describes his time at the College of Chemistry as really special. When he was an undergraduate, he was mentored by a former Chair of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) Department, Professor Don Hansen. “He was a spectacular teacher,” Jim states. “I took a course from him and did well. I told him that I wanted to go on to graduate school to get a Ph.D. His response was that was a wonderful idea, but I should plan to do undergraduate research first. That’s when I was first introduced to Professor John Newman (Ph.D. ’63, ChemE). John, as it turns out, was renowned for his battery and electrochemical engineering research. He was the best research advisor for me. We have been friends for fifty years and still collaborate.” After Jim finished his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, he went on to a year of research (M.S.) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison but he had already decided he wanted to come back and work with Professor Newman. “In my opinion the Berkeley faculty were spectacular. They were just wonderful to the students. It was a great experience. I thoroughly loved the place. That’s why over the years I’ve consistently contributed to the department and why Linda and I decided to establish the graduate fellowship program here.” He continues, “We both have academic backgrounds. (Linda has degrees in nursing, and measurement and statistics. She is currently vice president at Prometric, a global leader in test development and delivery. Before that, she was Asst. Dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Delaware.) We appreciate what it means to be students and faculty members as we have done both. When we looked at what we thought was important about giving back to the College, we realized one of the things that has concerned us over the years is that funding situations for research have become so directed that there’s not much freedom for doing anything new. That’s really why we chose to put our money in the direction that we did.”
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Jim and Linda have designated a multimillion dollar bequest to the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering that will create an endowed fund to support chemical engineering graduate student fellowships.
“The other donation we have made to the College has been to give the CBE Department Chair a little bit of slush fund money over time so that they have some freedom to be able to do things when they need to. I know what it’s like. I was in corporate management for a long time. It’s always nice to have a little bit of flexibility in your spending. Jim has given back in other ways to both Berkeley and the College. He spent more than 20 years on the College’s Advisory Board and has also served on the UC Berkeley Foundation’s Board of Trustees. He comments, “I think the main reason that a place like Berkeley is so important to the world of technology is that it has tremendous people on its faculty and its staff, and it attracts wonderful students. And we need to keep that going. And the more we can give that independence back to the faculty and students through giving, the better the resulting technology will be. It’s hard to be creative when you’re constrained.”
ABOUT DR. TRAINHAM’S CAREER Dr. Trainham has received multiple awards and honors including election to the National Academy of Engineering in 1997. His research interests focus on renewable energy, synthetic fuels including hydrogen production, energy storage, electrochemical engineering, and techno-economics of energy alternatives. Currently he is Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida (UF). Before joining UF, he spent most of his professional career in industry including: two startup companies developing new greener process technologies; was vice president, distinguished fellow and director of the Research Triangle Solar Fuels Institute at RTI International; served as global vice president of Science and Technology at PPG Industries; and had a 25-year career at the DuPont Company.
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LEADERSHIP
College Leadership Douglas S. Clark, Ph.D. Dean, College of Chemistry
Anne Baranger, Ph.D. Associate Dean, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Richmond Sarpong, Ph.D. Executive Associate Dean, College of Chemistry
Laurent de Janvry Senior Assistant Dean, College Relations & Development
Jeffrey A. Reimer, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Michael Kumpf Senior Assistant Dean, Engineering and Facilities
Matthew Francis, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Chemistry
Suzanne Sutton Senior Assistant Dean, Administration & Finance
John Arnold, Ph.D. Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs
Advisory Board John H. Markels, Ph.D., Advisory Board Chair President, Merck Vaccines Andre Argenton, Ph.D. Global Senior Director of Corporate Research, The Dow Chemical Company
Gary M. Masada, Ph.D. Retired President and CIO, IT, ERTC Chevron Corporation
Shih Hung Chan, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Fuel Cell Center/Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yuan Ze University
Cynthia Murphy-Ortega, B.S Manager, University Partnerships & Association Relations, Chevron Corporation
Sunney I. Chan, Ph.D. CalTech, Emeritus George Grant Hoag Professor Biophysical Chemistry
Ann Caviani Pease, Ph.D., J.D. Partner at Dechert LLP (Retired Partner)
Nirmal Chatterjee, Ph.D. Retired Vice President Engineering, Air Products and Chemicals; Previous Advisory Board Chair Rubber Chen, EngD CEO of Pioneer Material Precision Tech (PMP Tech)
R. Andrew Ramelmeier, Ph.D. Senior Vice President, Technical Operations & Manufacturing, Sagamo Therapeutics Ronald E. Silva, J.D., Previous Advisory Board Chair President & CEO, Fillmore Capital Partners, LLC
Margaret Chu-Moyer, Ph.D. Vice President, Research, Amgen Inc.
Georgieanna Scheuerman, Ph.D. Retired Manager, Applied Research and Catalysis, Chevron Energy Technology Company
Herbert H. Hooper, Ph.D. Managing General Partner, Ampersand Ventures
Harmeet Singh, Ph.D. Corporate Vice President, Lam Research
Ted Hou, Ph.D. CEO at NEEM Scientific; General Partner, Berkeley Catalyst Fund
Jovian Sun, MBA, Investment Director, Fosun Pharma Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd
Steven Isaacs, Ph.D. Chairman, President and CEO Aduro Biotech Stefan Loren, Ph.D. Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking, Oppenheimer
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Yuan T. Lee, Ph.D. Nobel Laureate, UCB Professor Emeritus, Chemistry; President Emeritus Academia Sinica
Peter Walther, Ph.D. Senior Vice President, Heterogeneous Catalysis, BASF Corporation Ellie Yi-Li Yieh, B.S. Vice President & General Manager, Applied Materials, Inc. Learn more: chemistry.berkeley.edu/advisory-board
We are sorry to announce the loss of long time Board member Alan Mendelson, friend to the College and UC Berkeley, who died suddenly this fall. We will greatly miss him. Information about his life, and a link to his obituary, is available at chemistry.berkeley.edu/memoriam-2021.
Donor Honor Rolls & In Memoriam DONOR HONOR ROLLS
IN MEMORIAM
The annual Donor Honor Rolls are available on our website at chemistry.berkeley.edu/donors. The rolls include individual, corporate, and memorial donations. The College of Chemistry deeply appreciates each and every gift from our incredible alumni, students, parents, friends, and corporate community. Your generosity, now more than ever, is critical as we strive to increase scholarship offerings for students, provide funds to support our stellar faculty, augment support programs, enhance our facilities, and work toward funding our new building.
The 2021 In Memoriam for the College of Chemistry is located on our website at chemistry.berkeley.edu/memoriam. We create an annual list in honor of our deceased alumni, adding names throughout the year as they become available to us. It is our hope that this In Memoriam will help you to keep abreast of news of your friends and colleagues. When possible, we link to obituaries.
Through our Distinguished Dean’s Society, the College of Chemistry recognizes annual gifts from individuals, foundations, and corporations that support the many areas of College research, teaching, and operations. Eight levels of giving are recognized. Membership is determined for each level by gifts made during the previous fiscal year, which is the period from July 1 – June 30. The online rolls note gifts made during the fiscal year 2020-2021. Please accept our sincere gratitude for your generous support of the College of Chemistry.
CONTACT US Laurent “Lo” de Janvry Senior Assistant Dean, College Relations and Development ldejanvry@berkeley.edu Mindy Rex Senior Director of Development rex@berkeley.edu Camille Olufson Senior Director, Strategic and Philanthropic Partnerships colufson@berkeley.edu Adam Farrish Associate Director, College Relations & Development amf190@berkeley.edu
GIVE TO THE PROGRAMS THAT MATTER MOST AND RETAIN YOUR ASSETS DURING YOUR LIFETIME
By making a gift to the College of Chemistry in your will or irrevocable trust, you are creating a legacy that impacts the College’s future without depleting your assets now. This allows you to make a meaningful gift to the programs that are important to you. In addition, it will support future generations of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering students. Learn more about gift planning and the potential tax benefits by contacting the Office of Gift Planning: 800-200-0575 | ogp@berkeley.edu | planyourlegacy.berkeley.edu
University of California Berkeley College of Chemistry 420 Latimer Hall #1460 Berkeley, CA 94720-1460
NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
Leverage the impact of your 2021 giving! What the CARES Act means for your end-of-year charitable giving
On December 27, 2020, a stimulus package was signed into law to help combat the far-reaching impacts of COVID-19. This bill extends the charitable tax incentives enacted by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act back in March 2020, but it also provides some additional provisions. As you look for ways to help those in need, the following may impact your charitable contributions in the 2021 tax year:
I T EM I ZI N G D ED UCT I O N S? The adjusted gross income (AGI) limit for cash contributions to qualifying public charities remains increased for individual donors. For cash contributions made in 2021, you can elect to deduct up to 100 percent of your AGI (formerly 60 percent prior to the CARES Act). N OT I T EM I ZI N G D ED UCTI O NS? • The CARES Act allows for an additional, “above-the-line” deduction for charitable gifts made in cash of up to $300. This provision is extended into 2021 for taxpayers filing single/separately. • New in 2021 is an additional “above-the-line” deduction for those married filing jointly. Joint filers (who aren’t itemizing) will be allowed to take an above-the-line deduction of up to $600 in cash contributions to charity this year
PLEASE CONTACT MINDY REX FOR MORE INFORMATION: rex@berkeley.edu or (510) 326-4424
