Capital Campaign

Creating a state-of-the-art facility to support the next generation of chemical scientists

With your help, our new research complex will support 21st century chemical education and develop a platinum standard for research facilities and sustainability.

“The curiosity-driven research in Stanley Hall that created CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing has spawned new advances and industries worldwide. We cannot underestimate the revolutionary impact that one building — and the great minds and equipment that inhabit it — can have on making life-changing discoveries.”

— JENNIFER DOUDNA, LI KA SHING CHANCELLOR’S CHAIR IN BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES

Rendering of new building location including site placement and height at the corner of University Drive and Gayley Road.

The College of Chemistry’s faculty and students form a unique research community combining chemistry, chemical biology and chemical engineering into a revolutionary approach to scientific discovery. Our facilities need to be as diverse and unique as the people and ideas that they house to aid in forging breakthrough discoveries.

FEASIBILITY STUDY

The global design firm HOK was retained this spring to create a feasibility study for the College’s new science hub. HOK has recommended putting a new research complex, built in three phases, next to the current chemistry buildings to facilitate the least disruption to the current labs. The concept recommends a first phase of approximately 110,000 square feet spread over eight floors to be placed along Gayley Road between Pimentel and Lewis Halls.

RESEARCH

The design will be environmentally sensitive, with state-of-theart flexible modular laboratories that can be reconfigured as research opportunities arise and change. Special shared spaces for faculty and industry partners will be created to focus research collaborations and potential startups.

ENCOURAGING THE COLLEGE STARTUP CULTURE

There is a definite synergy between startups and the Ph.D. research happening at the College. In recent years, a number of new startups have emerged from both the Chemistry and CBE departments. The new complex will support ground-breaking research and allow the startup culture to thrive.

Become part of the College of Chemistry revolution by giving to the capital campaign.

For information about giving opportunities contact: Laurent “Lo” de Janvry, Assistant Dean, College Relations and Development ldejanvry@berkeley.edu

Keep up to date on the campaign’s progress: chemistry.berkeley.edu/sciencehub

$120 MILLION PHASE ONE FUNDING NEEDED ...$40 MILLION RAISED TO DATE

$35 MILLION PRELIMINARY CAMPUS SUPPORT... $45 MILLION STILL TO RAISE

Terry and Tori Rosen transformative gift honors faculty advisor

College of Chemistry alumnus Terry Rosen (Ph.D. ’85, Chem), CEO of Arcus Biosciences, and his wife Tori, have donated $25 million to the College of Chemistry to accelerate fundraising for the new chemistry building which will be named in honor of Terry’s beloved mentor and former chemistry dean Clayton Heathcock.

The building will be named Heathcock Hall, and is currently scheduled for groundbreaking in 2021 and opening in 2023. It will primarily house state-of-the-art research labs, with some classroom space and undergraduate labs. It will also include collaborative spaces to encourage faculty and student entrepreneurs to commercialize their innovations.

The Rosens, long-time benefactors of the College, gave $1 million several years ago to help jump start the building project and to support a named lectureship in Heathcock’s honor. They have given generously to the College annual fund throughout the years. Terry currently holds the title of special advisor to the dean and is also a trustee of the UC Berkeley Foundation.

He states, “I’ve had a long and productive relationship with the College of Chemistry, where I received my Ph.D. However, being a Trustee has allowed me to see the campus from beyond the vantage of a unit. It has given me a broad perspective on the entire University, which has helped to shape my College of Chemistry experience and enabled me to think in new ways about what is possible.”

Located at the eastern entrance to campus across from the Hearst Greek Theatre, Heathcock Hall will “provide a striking gateway into the College,” said College of Chemistry Dean Douglas Clark. “We don’t really have that entryway to the College complex, so the new building will be a functional upgrade as well as an enhancement in the overall appearance of the College.”

Terry Rosen with Clayton Heathcock at a recent College seminar.

Clark noted that Heathcock Hall will be surrounded by buildings named after other illustrious Berkeley chemists: Gilbert Newton Lewis, who shaped our understanding of how chemicals form bonds; Wendell Latimer, who first described oxidation states of atoms; and George Pimentel, the inventor of the chemical laser. DTori and Terry Rosen with College dean Douglas Clark on campus

“Terry and Tori have been generous donors and great supporters of the College of Chemistry, and this is such an incredible opportunity for us,” he said. “Our departments rank among the best in the world, but if you look at our peers across the country, they all have relatively new facilities. We are lagging behind in that regard, so new space is essential to attract new hires and retain our top faculty.” Tori Rosen said, “Basic research provides the necessary foundation for expanding knowledge and developing scientific skills. It is akin to learning to walk before you can run. I believe providing a top-tier environment for students and faculty is key to the success of training future scientists to be the ‘best-in-class,’ paving the way for exciting and innovative achievement, both individually and collectively.”

Tori and Terry Rosen with College Dean Douglas Clark on campus.

Heathcock was both honored and humbled by the gift. He said. “I was blown away, and quite conflicted about the whole idea of naming a building in my honor. I did nothing to deserve that,” said Heathcock, who retired in 2004 and is a professor emeritus of chemistry. “But we have all had teachers who changed the direction of our lives. I am grateful to Terry; who was a real stand-out in my lab in the 1980s.”

Heathcock authored 285 papers during his research career at Berkeley and was honored by election to the National Academy of Sciences. He is a fellow of the American Chemical Society and American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received numerous awards.

“Berkeley’s curriculum is very research-focused and it became obvious to me when I arrived as a graduate student that not only was the research and specific project that Clayton proposed to me very exciting, but Clayton’s way of interacting with his students and his total passion for the science and engagement were awesome,” Terry said, who has had a long career in drug discovery and development, including the founding of two start-ups that focused on small-molecule drugs. “It was a very special time for me, and I think for the Heathcock group as well.”