Clay Felker, legendary editor and founder of UC Berkeley's Felker Magazine Center, dies
Clay Felker, an innovative editor known for his pathbreaking work in American magazines and the namesake of the Felker Magazine Center at the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, died today (Tuesday, July 1) at the age of 82.
(01 July)

Harry Le Grande named vice chancellor for student affairs
After a nationwide search, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau today (Thursday, June 26) named Harry Le Grande to the permanent post of vice chancellor for student affairs. Le Grande, who has worked at UC Berkeley for 27 years, has been serving as the campus's interim vice chancellor for student affairs since January 2007.
(26 June)

For whom wedding bells toll — for keeps
Four years after their high-profile nuptials in San Francisco City Hall, lesbian and gay staff members report on the experience of getting hitched again.
(23 June)

Joseph Frisch professor of mechanical engineering and pioneer in computer-aided design, dies at 87
Joseph Frisch, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, who was known as a pioneer in computer-aided design, died June 15 at his home in Berkeley after a prolonged illness. He was 87.
(20 June)

Richard Karp, renowned computer theorist, wins 2008 Kyoto Prize
Richard Karp, a professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, has been named a laureate of the 2008 Kyoto Prize, Japan's equivalent of the Nobel Prize, in recognition of his lifetime achievements in the field of computer theory.
(20 June)

Beijing or bust
Dozens of top Cal athletes hope to compete in the Summer 2008 Olympics. Some have already qualified for the Beijing Games; others are competing in trials between now and mid July.
(19 June)

International investment banker Frank Yeary joins UC Berkeley as new vice chancellor
Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau has appointed leading international finance banker and UC Berkeley alumnus Frank D. Yeary as a new vice chancellor. Yeary, who resigns as global head of mergers and acquisitions for Citigroup, will report directly to Birgeneau and will advise the chancellor, the executive vice chancellor and provost, and their senior staff on strategic planning and financial issues important to the campus.
(16 June)

Astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel wins million-dollar Shaw Prize
Astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel, a UC Berkeley professor of physics and director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, has been awarded the 2008 Shaw Prize in Astronomy for proving the existence of a black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The third UC Berkeley scientist to win the astronomy prize, Genzel will receive a cool million dollars.
(10 June)

Stepping down, but staying the course
Caroline Kane is retiring after a quarter-century of biochemical research and full-bore activism on behalf of student diversity.
(04 June)

Charles Henry receives Chancellor’s Award
Charles Henry, professor of African American Studies, has received the Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence for outstanding contributions in research, teaching, and public service that promote diversity and equal opportunity.
(04 June)

Obituary
Don Rogers, who provided significant research support in Cory Hall from 1967-85, died May 19 from complications of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).
(04 June)

Students win $180,000 to tackle world's problems
Among the 50 student projects that received a total of $179,000 in the third "Bears Breaking Boundaries" competition this year are proposals to help new mothers in Nigeria and orphans in Nepal, and to encourage bike sharing and energy efficiency in Berkeley.
(03 June)

Geographer David Hooson dies at age 82
David Hooson, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and a scholar of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, national identities and the history of geographic ideas, died on May 16 at the age of 82.
(29 May)

Grad student leaves a 'Jeopardy' record in her wake
Larissa Kelly, a fourth-year Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley, lost game #7 of her 'Jeopardy' career on the May 28 show — but not before taking more than $220,000 in winnings, a record for female contestants.
(29 May)

Cal team preps for AIDS/Life Cycle, June 1-7
A 25-member Cal team is gearing up for the 2008 AIDS/LifeCycle, which kicks off Sunday, June 1 in San Francisco. Students and staff on the team will send updates, in an online journal, as they pedal their way to Los Angeles.
(29 May)

Historian Stovall named L&S undergraduate dean
The Undergraduate Division of the College of Letters and Science will have a new dean beginning July 1 with the appointment of Tyler Stovall, a respected history professor who has made modern France, race, labor, and class issues his specialties.
(22 May)

Berkeley Citations awarded to Cummins, SPH’s Spear
Two longtime Berkeley luminaries — a scholar whose work has had a significant impact on public health from California to China, and a senior administrator who has played a pivotal role in crisis management as the top aide to four different chancellors — have been awarded the Berkeley Citation for their “distinguished achievement and notable service to the university” over careers here that together represent nearly three-quarters of a century.
(08 May)

Egyptologist Cathleen Keller dies at age 62
Cathleen "Candy" Keller, an associate professor of Egyptology in the University of California, Berkeley's Department of Near Eastern Studies, died of pancreatic cancer on April 18 at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. She was 62.
(07 May)

Two profesors elected to American Philosophical Society
Professors Francesca Rochberg and Randy Schekman are new members of the American Philosophical Society, the nation's oldest learned society. Three UC Berkeley alumni also are among the society's 38 new members.
(02 May)

John Cummins puts controversy behind him
After 36 years at Berkeley — including two tumultuous decades in a job that often put him in the eye of the hurricane, from political protests to hostage crises and acts of God — the "utility infielder" for four different chancellors calls it a day.
(30 April)

Quok Shee on Angel Island
Of all 200,000 immigrants held in the detention barracks on Angel Island, in San Francisco Bay, none spent longer than 20-year-old Quok Shee, a new arrival from Hong Kong in the days of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In his new book Immigration at the Golden Gate, Institute for Business and Economic Research administrator Robert Barde tells her story as part of a broader look at the West Coast's immigration system then, a narrative that resonates today. Far from being the "Ellis Island of the West," welcoming newcomers from afar, Barde says, Angel Island existed to keep them out.
(30 April)

Laurels
Recent faculty and staff honors and awards.
(30 April)

Three faculty members elected to National Academy of Sciences
Three faculty members of the University of California, Berkeley, are among 72 new members and 18 foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the nation's most prestigious societies of scholars engaged in science and engineering research.
(29 April)

Five faculty elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Five UC Berkeley faculty members are among 212 scholars, scientists, artists, civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders elected April 28 to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, bringing the campus's total membership in AAAS to 227.
(28 April)

Energy expert Alex Farrell has died
Alex Farrell, an associate professor in the Energy and Resources Group who worked closely with state government over the past year to chart a course to reduce California's carbon emissions, died earlier this week at his home in San Francisco. He was 46.
(17 April)

Distinguished Teaching Award 2008 winners
Four professors in the arts and humanities, social sciences and environmental design are recipients of this year's Distinguished Teaching Award at UC Berkeley.
(16 April)

Honoring those who keep the place running
35 campus staffers, many of whom perform essential work far outside the limelight, were singled out as COSA winners in an April 3 ceremony at International House.
(09 April)

Fruit and flowers honor a teacher who ‘knows her stuff’
This year’s student-initiated Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching goes to Ananya Roy.
(09 April)

Shades of gray . . . with a touch of black-and-blue
In her first novel, English lecturer Melanie Abrams takes a literary yet erotic approach to dominant/submissive sex.
(09 April)

Medieval history professor, devoted to students, dead at 79
Gerard Caspary, a UC Berkeley, professor emeritus of medieval history known for his powerful intellect and his exceptional devotion to his students, died at his home in Berkeley this weekend. He was 79.
(09 April)

English Professor Robert Hass wins Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Robert Hass, an award-winning University of California, Berkeley, professor of English and former U.S. poet laureate, has won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his latest book, “Time and Materials.”
(09 April)

Six professors win prestigious Guggenheim fellowships
Six UC Berkeley faculty members, all from the College of Letters & Science, have won prestigious Guggenheim fellowships. They are among 190 artists, scientists and scholars across the nation who were awarded the 2008 fellowships this week.
(08 April)

Robert Hass wins Pulitzer Prize for poetry
Robert Hass, an award-winning UC Berkeley professor of English and former U.S. poet laureate, has won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for poetry for his latest book, "Time and Materials."
(07 April)

Dr. Robert Mishell, professor emeritus of immunology, dies at age 73
Dr. Robert Mishell, a professor emeritus of immunology who discovered the first method of developing antibody-producing cells in vitro, died March 6 at age 73.
(02 April)

It's My Job
In this semi-regular feature, the Berkeleyan showcases a staff member whose work is essential to the smooth functioning of the campus (or one of its many departments and units).
(02 April)

Laurels
Honors, awards, and other faculty and staff achievements of note.
(02 April)

A new honor for indefatigable former faculty
The first Dickson Emeriti Professorship recognizes the ongoing work of Joseph Duggan.
(19 March)

A peer-to-peer-support resource is born
The Disability Staff Resource Network aims to empower employees seeking workplace accommodations.
(12 March)

Laurels
Honors, awards, and other faculty and staff achievements of note.
(12 March)

John H. Freeman, business professor and entrepreneurship pioneer, dies
John H. Freeman, a leader in the field of entrepreneurship and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, died of an apparent heart attack at his home in Lafayette, Calif., on Monday (March 3). He was 63.
(07 March)

Faculty Nightstand
For this edition of Faculty Nightstand, Vicky Kahn, of the department of English and comparative literature, describes a novel by a modern writer whose works are likely to become part of the literary canon: South African novelist J.M. Coetzee, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.
(27 February)

It's My Job
In this feature, the Berkeleyan showcases a staff member whose work is essential to the smooth functioning of the campus (or one of its many departments and units).
(27 February)

Top UC administrator coming to Berkeley as associate chancellor
Linda Morris Williams, who rose through the ranks to become associate president of the UC system and chief policy adviser to President Robert Dynes, will soon join the Berkeley campus as Associate Chancellor – Government, Community, and Campus Liaison. Williams will take over a number of responsibilities from John Cummins, associate chancellor and chief of staff for the Chancellor’s Immediate Office, who is retiring in June after 36 years on campus.
(20 February)

Music student adds kudos to his CV — a Grammy
As a musician and a scholar, "I'm very much about saying 'we're here,' " says American Indian singer and composer John-Carlos Perea. Over the weekend that message of Native survival got a worldwide stage, when the Paul Winter Consort CD Crestone — featuring contributions from the UC Berkeley doctoral student — won a Grammy for Best New Age Album.
(15 February)

So an EECS prof and an undergrad walk into a computer lab …
Beneath its jokey exterior, Jester 4.0 is serious research, a recommender system that employs complex mathematics to match users with others of similar tastes and preferences. Someday soon, Eigentaste 5.0 — the sophisticated algorithm on which it's based — could even help Chuck Norris find a portfolio of charities to support.
(13 February)

Three faculty elected to National Academy of Engineering
Three UC Berkeley faculty are among 65 new members elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Membership in the academy is considered one of the highest professional distinctions accorded an American engineer.
(12 February)

It's My Job
In this feature, the Berkeleyan showcases a staff member whose work is essential to the smooth functioning of the campus (or one of its many departments and units).
(06 February)

Laurels
Honors, awards, and other faculty and staff achievements of note.
(06 February)

Jorge Liderman, award-winning composer and music professor, dies at age 50
Jorge Mario Liderman, a distinguished composer and a University of California, Berkeley, music professor, died suddenly Sunday (Feb. 3). He was 50.
(06 February)

For Obama, the act’s the thing
Theater professor Shannon Steen peers into the candidate’s political persona and finds Horatio Alger, Abe Lincoln, and Stanislavski looking back at her.
(30 January)

Albert Bowker, innovative chancellor, dies at age 88
Albert Bowker, a former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, an expert is statistics and an innovative administrator during his decades-long career in higher education across the country, died Sunday in a retirement home in Portola Valley, Calif. He was 88 and had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
(22 January)

Antoni K. Oppenheim, world expert on combustion and heat transfer, dies at 92
Antoni Kazimierz Oppenheim, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of mechanical engineering and one of the world's leading experts on combustion and radiation heat transfer, died Saturday, Jan. 12, at the age of 92.
(22 January)

Albert Bowker, innovative UC Berkeley chancellor during 1970s, dies at age 88
Albert H. Bowker, a former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, an expert in statistics and an innovative administrator during his decades-long career in higher education across the country, died Sunday in a retirement home in Portola Valley, Calif. He was 88 and had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
(20 January)

New life for the New Deal
Whether we know it or not, Californians are still enjoying the legacy of the Depression era's vast public-works programs, whose workers gave us bridges, parks, hospitals, water systems, art, and more. The Living New Deal Project — an ambitious collaborative effort by geographer Gray Brechin, the campus's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, and citizens throughout the state — aims to make sure we know it.
(16 January)

It's My Job
In this new feature, the Berkeleyan showcases a staff member whose work is essential to the smooth functioning of the campus (or one of its many departments and units).
(16 January)

Obituary
Paul Plouffe, a longtime lecturer for chemical engineering’s undergraduate writing program, has died. He was 68.
(16 January)

Donald Kaplan, expert on plant shapes and forms, dies at 69
Donald Robert Kaplan, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of plant biology and an influential expert on the development of the diverse forms and shapes of plants, has died at the age of 69. Fellow botanists credit Kaplan's detailed studies and analyses of leaf development for setting the standard in the field of plant morphology.
(21 December)

Neil Henry to lead journalism school
Neil Henry, a longtime Washington Post reporter and Newsweek staff writer who joined the Graduate School of Journalism faculty in 1993, has been appointed to serve as dean of journalism, pending approval by UC President Robert Dynes and the Board of Regents.
(19 December)

Andrew Imbrie, music professor and renowned composer, dies at age 86
Andrew Walsh Imbrie, a University of California, Berkeley, professor emeritus of music and a renowned composer, died Wednesday, Dec. 5, at his Berkeley home following a long illness. He was 86.
(14 December)

Journalism professor nominated for three Writers Guild awards
Lowell Bergman, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, a producer/correspondent for the Public Broadcasting System's documentary series "Frontline," and a New York Times investigative reporter, has been nominated for three Writers Guild of America Awards.
(13 December)

Taking a bullet for research
Geographer Michael Watts, an expert in "the oil complex" and its devastating impacts in the Niger Delta, learned a painful lesson on his most recent trip to the region: Things are even worse than he knew.
(06 December)

Laurels
Honors, awards, and other faculty and staff achievements of note.

(06 December)

VèVè Clark, cosmopolitan African diaspora scholar, dies at 62
VèVè Amasasa Clark, an associate professor of African American studies at UC Berkeley, and a literary scholar who coined the term "diaspora literacy," died Dec. 1 at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley after being found at home in a coma. She was 62.
(06 December)

Nobelist Smoot launches new cosmology center
George Smoot, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics, has put $500,000 of his prize money with $7.6 million in other gifts and support to jump-start a new cosmology center at UC Berkeley to explore cosmic questions of dark energy and dark matter.
(04 December)

Ralph Rader, English professor and theorist on the novel, dies at age 77
Ralph W. Rader, a professor emeritus of English at the University of California, Berkeley, and a major theorist on the novel as a genre, died of heart failure on Nov.23 at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. He was 77.He is recognized for his essays on James Boswell's "Life of Johnson" and James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist" and "Ulysses," as well as for a series of essays in which he developed an original and influential interpretation of the emergence and development of the English novel as a form.
(28 November)

Black, white, and shades of green
Exploring issues of race, land, and identity, geographer Carolyn Finney finds a place for herself in academia.
(28 November)

Lost 16th-century mass discovered by Berkeley music scholar
More than 400 years after Italian composer Alessandro Striggio wrote his extravagant 40-part Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno, it has been rediscovered by Berkeley music scholar Davitt Moroney, who identified the work and rescued it from obscurity.
(28 November)

A passion for pachyderms
Tang Center nurse Julie Barnett is on a crusade to save Asian elephants, a cause she came to several years ago after visiting a sanctuary for the abused mammals in northern Thailand.
(28 November)

Robert Hass wins 2007 National Book Award for his latest poetry
Robert Hass, a UC Berkeley professor of English and former U.S. poet laureate, is the 2007 winner of the National Book Award in poetry, for "Time and Materials." The prize was announced Nov. 14 in New York City.
(15 November)

Robert Hass: Eight years of activism, writing, and reflection
A finalist for poetry in next week's National Book Awards, Professor of English Robert Hass, in this issue's Q&A, ruminates on all manner of things. (Our favorite exchange involves snow, covered bridges, and Dick and Jane.) Two of his poems are also featured: "Ezra Pound's Proposition" and a contemporary ode in the manner of Horace that's 100 percent Hass.
(08 November)

Bunnies, boring objects, and the guilt-free zone
Artist Squeak Carnwath decodes the symbols in and the process behind her inimitable paintings.
(31 October)

Laurels
Honors, awards, and other faculty and staff achievements of note.
(31 October)

Letter from a soldier
A Navy instructor describes an 'otherworldly' experience: listening to podcasts of a UC Berkeley physics course while on patrol in Iraq.
(26 October)

Frederick E. Balderston, Haas School professor emeritus, dies at 84
Frederick E. Balderston, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, an authority on the savings and loan industry as well as on university administration, and an early experimenter with computer simulation of banking and marketing decisions, has died at the age of 84.
(24 October)

Burma’s ‘transformative moment’
The so-called "Saffron Revolution" may not be televised, but much of what's happening inside the locked-down nation is nonetheless finding its way to the outside world via the Internet. And that, says Southeast Asia scholar Darren Zook, could spell "the beginning of the end" of 45 years of military rule.
(24 October)

Gentleman and scholar, academic leader and diplomat
This week, Karl Pister will receive the Clark Kerr Award from the Academic Senate for a career (still going strong) of service, leadership, and advancing higher education for all.
(24 October)

Memorial for late yeast expert Robert Mortimer
An Oct. 28 memorial service will honor Robert K. Mortimer, a yeast expert and UC Berkeley professor emeritus of molecular and cell biology who died Aug. 10 at the age of 79. Mortimer was key to making yeast an important organism for studying the action of genes and chromosomes, and investigated the yeast strains that give wine complexity.
(23 October)

UC Berkeley: Virgil E. Schrock, thermal hydraulics expert who helped improve safety of nuclear reactors, dies at 81
Virgil Schrock, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of nuclear engineering and an internationally recognized expert in thermal hydraulics, died of cancer on Monday, Oct. 1. He was 81.
(17 October)

On track and going strong

"This is the greatest investment I've ever made," says George A. Miller about the program he founded to help low-income, first-generation community-college transfer students make the adjustment to life at Berkeley. "And I was in investment banking for 35 years."
(17 October)

Three campus career counselors’ nonlinear path to authorship
Career Center staffers — two current, one recently retired — hit the trifecta with new Princeton Review series advising undergrads how to make the most of their liberal-arts degrees.
(10 October)

Kevin Consey to step down as BAM/PFA director
Kevin Consey, who has led the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) since 1999, announced his retirement on Sept. 21, effective Jan. 2, 2008.
(03 October)

For service above and beyond . . .
Since Human Resources introduced the Spot Award Program last year, 836 employees have received $250 (less taxes) for special accomplishments, on the strength of nominations submitted by their supervisors.
(26 September)

Tracing a spidery family tree
Insect biologist Rosemary Gillespie’s research has taken her from Scotland to Hawaii to Berkeley. Here, at least, she doesn’t have to capture specimens with a tuning fork.
(26 September)

A life in theater, sans histrionics
For more than 35 years, Stan Kramer has worked entirely behind the scenes on campus theater and dance productions. So it’s no coincidence that when he retires next week as technical director for the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS), he will do so without much fanfare or hoopla.
(26 September)

Laurels
Honors, awards, and other faculty and staff achievements of note.
(26 September)

Obituary
John Chemsak, an entomological researcher and curator long associated with the Essig Museum of Entomology at Berkeley, died Aug. 26 at the age of 75.
(26 September)

Claire Kremen, UC Berkeley conservation biologist, wins MacArthur 'genius' fellowship
Claire Kremen, a UC Berkeley conservation biologist whose applied research advances the fields of ecology, biodiversity and agriculture, has been named a MacArthur Fellow, one of 24 nationwide "genius" award recipients announced Tuesday, Sept. 25, by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
(24 September)

Midanik appointed dean of School of Social Welfare
Professor Lorraine Midanik, an expert in alcohol issues, has been named dean of UC Berkeley's School of Social Welfare. Midanik, whose teaching and scholarly work focus on drug- and alcohol-related problems in the United States, had served as acting dean since July 2006.
(19 September)

What’s modern planning theory got to do with my day hike?
In his latest book, The Country in the City, geography professor Richard Walker calls the Bay Area ‘the leading edge of modern environmentalism.’ Much of what it stands for today, he adds, ‘came right out of Berkeley.’
(19 September)

Down from the mountains
In 1977, Berkeley biochemist Arlene Blum warned of the dangers of toxic flame retardants in household products -- and then departed academia to climb some of the world's highest mountain peaks. Three decades later, she's picking up right where she left off.
(12 September)

It's My Job
In this new semi-regular feature, the Berkeleyan showcases a staff member whose work is essential to the smooth functioning of the campus (or one of its many departments and units).
(12 September)

John Gofman, anti-nuclear activist & lipid researcher, has died
John William Gofman, a professor who first discovered the role of LDL and HDL in heart disease and went on to document and publicize the health dangers of low-level radiation, died Aug. 15 of heart failure at his home in San Francisco. He was 88.
(04 September)

Alexander C. Scordelis, renowned structural engineer, dies at 83
Alexander C. Scordelis, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of structural engineering and among the world's most influential experts on long-span bridges and pre-stressed concrete, has died at the age of 83.
(29 August)

Harassment, predatory behavior spell trouble at River High
Doing sociological fieldwork, C.J. Pascoe infiltrated the macho, homophobic world of adolescent boys.
(29 August)

Laurels
Honors, appointments, and other faculty and staff achievements of note.
(29 August)

Former street tough takes miraculous route to UC Berkeley
Next week, Derick Brown starts his junior year at UC Berkeley, arriving as a transfer student from City College of San Francisco. While the campus is less than 15 miles from the Western Addition neighborhood where he grew up, it may as well be the moon, as far as many of his former cohorts are concerned. "Growing up, Berkeley was just off limits. African Americans where I come from, we just can't get in," he said. "But I took a chance and enrolled in community college, then things started happening, and look at me now. I'm floating on a cloud."
(23 August)

It's My Job
In this new semi-regular feature, the Berkeleyan showcases a staff member whose work is essential to the smooth functioning of the campus (or one of its many departments and units).
(22 August)

R. Brady Williamson, pioneer in fire safety engineering science, dies at 73
Robert Brady Williamson, a pioneer in fire safety engineering science education and a professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, died of melanoma on Wednesday, Aug. 1. He was 73.
(09 August)

UC Berkeley geography professor wounded in Nigeria
Geography professor Michael Watts, who studies violence in the oil fields of Nigeria, was injured July 25 in the center of the country's oil-rich Niger delta by a group of gun-wielding men who attacked a newspaper office.
(25 July)

A profile of Gibor Basri
UC Berkeley's new vice chancellor for equity and inclusion plans to take a "holistic view" of the campus — its faculty, students, and staff — to help ensure that it's serving and tapping the talents of California's diverse populations.
(19 July)

Laurels
Honors, awards, and other faculty and staff achievements of note.
(11 July)

Obituary
Anthony (Tony) Brennan, assistant director of the California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways Program (PATH), died of leukemia on May 31, at the age of 71.
(11 July)

Professor emeritus Peter Lyman dies at age 66
Peter Lyman, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Information and a former university librarian, whose legacy includes pioneering research on online information, ethnographic analyses of online social relationships and communities, and helping bring university libraries into the digital era, died Monday (July 2) at his Berkeley home. He was 66 and had battled brain cancer.
(05 July)

New book outlines discrimination against moms
Three decades after women began breaking into male-dominated professions, their numbers in top academic and corporate echelons remain flat, according to Mary Ann Mason, UC Berkeley's graduate dean. Largely to blame are family demands and "maternal discrimination," according to "Mothers on the Fast Track: How a New Generation can Balance Family and Careers," a new book Mason has co-authored with her daughter, Eve Mason Ekman.
(12 June)

Geochemist Harold Helgeson has died at 75
Harold C. Helgeson, who rose from gold and diamond prospecting to become the world's foremost geochemist and the father of theories about where to look for ore and oil, died May 28 at the age of 75.
(11 June)

Leonard Nathan, distinguished poet, dies at 82
Leonard Nathan, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of rhetoric and prolific American poet, critic and master of the short lyric, died peacefully on June 3. He was 82. The author of 17 volumes of poetry, Nathan was a fixture for 50 years in literary circles both on and off the UC Berkeley campus.
(07 June)

Martin Meyerson, former CED dean and acting chancellor, dies at age of 84
Martin Meyerson, who is credited with defusing some of the Free Speech Movement tensions at the University of California, Berkeley, while serving as acting chancellor in 1965, died Saturday (June 2). He was 84. The native of New York City also was an authority on urban development and was dean of UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design (CED) from 1963 to 1965.
(06 June)

Punching a clock into the golden years
The UC Berkeley Retirement Center's Retiree Work Opportunities (RWO) program — an innovative solution to address the campus's short-term, temporary staffing needs — was among 10 nonprofit and public-sector organizations honored last week with a BreakThrough Award at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
(06 June)

Activism, service, and engagement recognized at first annual Chancellor's Public Service Awards ceremony
The first annual Chancellor's Public Service Awards were presented at a University House ceremony on May 14. The awards, as the chancellor noted in a message to attendees, "recognize the commitment of faculty, staff, and students … whose individual or combined efforts enhance the quality of life of our community, whether here in the Bay Area or around the globe."
(06 June)

Campus managers honored for leadership
The 19th annual BSA Excellence in Management awards, presented by the Berkeley Staff Assembly, were conferred on 44 Berkeley managers at a May 10 event at International House.
(06 June)

Seventeen junior faculty receive Hellman Family funding
The Hellman Family Faculty Fund, established in 1995, supports the research of promising assistant professors who show capacity for great distinction in their research. Seventeen awards have been announced for 2007 and are listed below.
(06 June)

Awards
Recent faculty and staff awards.
(06 June)

William K. Pritchett, emeritus professor of Greek, dies at age 98
William Kendrick Pritchett, emeritus professor of Greek at the University of California, Berkeley, died on Tuesday, May 29, at his Berkeley home a day after taking a bad fall. He was 98. Pritchett, who joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1948, was one of the most highly regarded authorities in the fields of Greek topography, military science and practice, and the intricacies of the Athenian calendar and time-reckoning systems.
(05 June)

Cal AIDS LifeCyclists get in gear for an arduous (and memorable) ride
When AIDS Life Cyclists pedal out of San Francisco this Sunday, June 3, one contingent will sport Cal jerseys. Members of the Cal Team plan to file first-hand reports on the benefit ride, beginning with this overview from team co-captain Christine Shaff.
(31 May)

After 'Dreamz,' it's back to surviving reality
This season's recent Survivor:Fiji results proved stunningly disappointing for fans of Yau-Man Chan, the College of Chemistry's information-systems director, who braved hunger and thirst, poisonous snakes, 108-degree temperatures and backstabbing competitors, only to be eliminated before reaching the competition's final round. But Chan emerged from the three-month ordeal with unprecedented popularity and self-confidence.
(30 May)

Faculty Nightstand: On sabbatical in Britain, Nick Jewell searches for a compelling portrait of London
Biostatistician Nick Jewell usually keeps a stack of books on his bedside cabinet, each title "brimful of promise and intrigue." While traveling in Britain, that stack has included books to teach him about the history of his surroundings, and about his family roots; he shares the best of the lot with NewsCenter readers.
(17 May)

Three new top campus administrators named
Chancellor Robert Birgeneau today announced the appointment of Andrew J. Szeri as dean of the Graduate Division, Sheldon Zedeck as vice provost for academic affairs and faculty welfare, and Keith Gilless as acting dean of the College of Natural Resources.
(16 May)

68-year-old Ph.D. candidate beats the odds
For 68-year-old Ananda Sattwa, the long and rocky journey from Kingston, Jamaica, to UC Berkeley will crest this Friday (May 18) as she attends the Department of Ethnic Studies' graduation ceremony. That's when her eldest son, African American historian and anthropologist Robin D. G. Kelley, will place a doctoral hood over his mother's long mane of wavy silver hair. The Ph.D. candidate has yet to complete her dissertation. However, with her son – a sought-after scholar – delivering the keynote address, her family felt the time was right to honor the achievements of the woman who made sacrifice after sacrifice so they might pursue their dreams.
(16 May)

In praise of 'dynamo' dean Mary Ann Mason
A crowd of well-wishers gathered Thursday afternoon at International House to toast Mary Ann Mason, who will step down as dean of the Graduate Division in June. Speakers cited Mason’s many important accomplishments as dean — from hard-won policy changes to help make academia more "family friendly" to new graduate-student housing and more robust fellowship support.
(14 May)

Mathematician Emma Lehmer dies at 100
Emma Trotskaya Lehmer, a member of UC Berkeley's mathematical community since 1940, died peacefully in her sleep on May 7 at the age of 100.
(11 May)

Don Minkler, champion of family planning and professor emeritus of public health, dies at 85
Dr. Donald H. Minkler, UC Berkeley professor emeritus and a renowned leader in women's health and family planning, has died at the age of 85. Minkler died of Alzheimer's disease at Salem Lutheran Home in Oakland on Friday, May 4.
(10 May)

Francis Moffitt, leading figure in photogrammetry, dies at 84
Francis H. Moffitt, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering and a prominent name in the field of surveying and photogrammetry, has died at the age of 84. Moffitt died of complications from pneumonia on Saturday, April 21, at his home in Berkeley.
(03 May)

Benefiting faculty into the future
Vice Provost Jan de Vries, who steps down June 30, set the bar for programs to support faculty.
(02 May)

Academy of Arts & Sciences elects 7 Berkeley faculty
Seven UC Berkeley faculty members will join the likes of former Vice President Al Gore, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and chef Alice Waters as new members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
(30 April)

Clover, Kay honored with 2007 Faculty Service Awards
Two Berkeley faculty members — Professors Carol Clover and Herma Hill Kay — have been selected as winners of the 2007 Berkeley Faculty Service Award (BFSA).
(25 April)

Distinguished Teaching awards announced
Three professors in the humanities and one in science have won UC Berkeley’s prestigious 2007 Distinguished Teaching Award. A ceremony honoring Andrew Garrett, associate professor of linguistics; Steven Goldsmith, associate professor of English; Eileen Lacey, associative professor of integrative biology and Kathleen McCarthy, associate professor of classics and comparative literature, will be held tomorrow (Wednesday, April 25) at 5 p.m. at the campus’s Zellerbach Playhouse.
(24 April)

Lura Dolas: Helping hearts 'shine hugely'
Theater lecturer shares stage skills with aspiring thespians — and those who 'perform' in other walks of life.
(18 April)

Beth Luke makes a graceful exit
For almost two decades, HR program director has done the right thing for campus staff.
(18 April)

The 'undisputed leader' among students of children
A pioneer in exploring the history of children, Paula Fass began to examine American culture as a child herself. Today, she leads Berkeley students in considering this population once overlooked by historians.
(18 April)

Awards
Recent faculty and staff awards.
(18 April)

'The promise of higher education at San Quentin'
UC Berkeley alumna Jody Lewen '02 is receiving the prestigious Peter E. Haas Public Service Award for her contributions as director of a college program at San Quentin State Prison. In a lecture on April 21, Cal Day, she'll speak on her work.
(16 April)

Profs reap Chancellor's Awards for diversity-related contributions
Four faculty members were the guests of honor April 4 at a University House ceremony celebrating recipients of the 2007 Chancellor's Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence.
(12 April)

Obituary
Wilson Gifford Combs — who, two decades after being expelled from Berkeley for misbehavior during the Depression, went on to win the University Medal and to hold a faculty position in the architecture department — died March 15 at his home in Berkeley at age 92, following a stroke.
(04 April)

Richard Meier, emeritus professor and "super planner" dies at 86
Richard Louis Meier, an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and an early thinker on the importance of sustainability in planning, died on Feb. 26 of pneumonia and congestive heart failure at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley.
(04 April)

Students adore retiring historian
Standing ovations for UC Berkeley professor Leon Litwack have been reaching a fever pitch in the countdown to his retirement at the semester's end. But today's (Wed., March 21) applause was particularly poignant when it was announced that the 77-year-old iconoclastic social historian had won the student-conferred Golden Apple Award.
(21 March)

'If we all develop our employees, we all benefit,' says HR's top manager
Looking at Berkeley's current job structure as well as its future needs, assistant vice chancellor of human resources Jeannine Raymond sees opportunities for employees to grow and advance.
(21 March)

Fiat Lunch
Berkeley staff and faculty, we've long known, are a well-read bunch. Turns out they're well-fed, too.
(14 March)

Famed paleoanthropologist Clark Howell has died
Paleoanthropologist F. Clark Howell, who turned the field of human origins into a scientific study by drawing in researchers from all fields, ranging from ecology and geology to ethnography, has died at 81.
(13 March)

John Thow, internationally acclaimed composer, dies at age 57
John Holland Thow, a University of California, Berkeley, professor of music and an internationally acclaimed composer, died on Sunday (March 4) at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley. He was 57. Thow, who joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1981, produced an extensive and diverse repertoire of solo, chamber, vocal, choral, operatic and orchestral music.
(12 March)

Faculty Nightstand: A buffet of books from writing guru Steve Tollefson
Not surprisingly, UC Berkeley writing and grammar guru Steve Tollefson has a tower of tomes sitting next to his bed at all times. Reluctant to pick just a current favorite, he's offered a veritable buffet of recommendations for Faculty Nightstand.
(12 March)

Keeping Native tongues out of the pickling jar
For linguist Leanne Hinton, the path to becoming a champion of California's vanishing Indian languages began with a love of music, a suggestion from Alan Dundes, a summer field trip to Arizona's Havasu Canyon — and an unwavering belief in immersion.
(07 March)

A goodwill ambassador steps down
Pat Perkins, the longtime office manager and receptionist for Student Life Advising Services/ Educational Opportunity Program (SLAS/EOP), retired in October, but her impact on Berkeley has yet to diminish.
(07 March)

Martin Trow, leading scholar in higher education studies, dies at 80
Martin Trow, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of public policy and an internationally recognized leader in higher education studies, died at age 80 on Feb. 24 of an inoperable brain tumor. Trow is credited with being the first scholar to describe the transition in higher education from elite to mass to universal student access.
(02 March)

What's the frequency, Bill?
Journalism-school professor William Drummond tunes in to satellite radio, and likes what he hears.
(28 February)

Mathematician Vaughan Jones to discuss 'a new kind of algebra' in next Faculty Research Lecture
In the second 2007 Faculty Research Lecture — titled "Flatland, a Great Place to Do Algebra" — Berkeley mathematician Vaughan Jones will discuss a new kind of algebra based on two-dimensional configurations, hoping to "communicate its flavor and give some idea of where it should be useful."
(28 February)

National Academy of Engineering elects three Berkeley faculty
Three members of the Berkeley faculty have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional distinctions for an American engineer.
(21 February)

Awards
Recent faculty and staff awards.
(21 February)

Faculty Nightstand: Louise Fortmann recommends some 'elementary' reading
UC Berkeley professor of natural resource sociology Louise Fortmann discusses a novel by Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk and a nonfiction account by Indian activists.
(21 February)

Free-science movement gains a foothold at Berkeley
Berkeley biologist Michael Eisen, who co-founded the Public Library of Science in 2000 with the aim of making all scientific research findings freely available online, thinks it's "fantastic" that the $10 billion scholarly-publishing industry seems to be fighting back. "It's just evidence that open access is working," he says.
(14 February)

Nelson Polsby, distinguished scholar of American politics, dies at 72
Nelson Polsby, a national authority on Congress and the presidency who inspired generations of students and colleagues at UC Berkeley and charmed them with his wit, died Tuesday (Feb. 6) at his home in Berkeley. He was 72.
(07 February)

Obituary
New York publisher Rodney Friedman — who conceived of the idea of the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter and partnered with the School of Public Health for 25 years to produce it — died on New Year's Day at his home in Redding, Conn.
(31 January)

Obituary
Kaye Bock, a student-affairs officer in the Department of City and Regional Planning (DCRP) for more than 20 years, died in her sleep from unknown causes on Jan. 16 at her home in Richmond. She was 62.
(31 January)

Obituary
Ronald Murillo, an office-services assistant in the Office of the Registrar, died of a stroke in December, at the age of 55.
(31 January)

Faculty Nightstand: Professors Scott Saul, Julia Hastings, and David Presti tell what they're reading at home
Inspired by UC Berkeley's popular Summer Reading List for freshmen, the NewsCenter has invited a rotating cast of faculty members to share what they're reading — and why.
(26 January)

Making the case for the humanities
Anthony Cascardi, the Townsend Center's new director, thinks it's time for humanists to move from the wings of academia to center stage — and he's doing something about it
(25 January)

Chemical engineer Donald Hanson dies at 88
Donald N. Hanson, professor emeritus of chemical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and an inspiring teacher and mentor, died on Jan. 11 in Orinda, Calif., following a year of illness and hospice care. He was 88.
(24 January)

Stephen Smale awarded Wolf Prize in mathematics
Stephen Smale, a Fields Medalist and a major contributor to many fields of mathematics, has received the prestigous Wolf Foundation Prize in Mathematics. Smale proved, among other things, that a sphere can be turned inside out without breaking it, or even leaving a crease.
(19 January)

Stigma of mental illness explored
As Congress considers legislation that would require the same health coverage for mental illness as for physical ailments, UC Berkeley psychologist Stephen Hinshaw publishes a book that explores the enduring stigma of disorders ranging from depression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to schizophrenia and autism.
(16 January)

Physics teaching award to astronomer Alex Filippenko
Astronomer Alex Filippenko, who late last year was named national Professor of the Year, has received an equally prestigious teaching award, the Richtmyer Award, from the American Association of Physics Teachers. After presentation of the award Jan. 9 at the association's annual meeting in Seattle, he delivered a talk on how supernovae have led to the mysterious concept of dark energy.
(09 January)

Noted civil engineer dies at age 87
Ben C. Gerwick Jr., a civil engineer and University of California, Berkeley, professor emeritus known for his pioneering contributions to deep foundation construction and for making heavy construction engineering a part of scholarly research, died at age 87 on Dec. 25.
(09 January)

Geographer, social scientist Allan Pred dies at 70
Allan Pred, one of the world’s leading geographers and social scientists who retired last year from UC Berkeley, has died at the age of 70. His scholarship radically shaped today's understanding of city development, landscape, modernity and race.
(09 January)

Richard Newton, engineering dean and technology visionary, dies at 55
A. Richard Newton, professor and dean of the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, a pioneer in integrated circuit design and electronic systems architecture, and a visionary leader in the technology industry, died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer. He was 55.
(04 January )