Kenneth J. Livak ’74 Disease fighter
Livak (chemistry) was a key contributor to the first commercial system to perform real-time polymerase chain reaction and was among the first to publish the complete nucleotide sequence of the AIDS virus, HTLV-111. Livak’s research has played a critical role in fighting and treating diseases. He is a senior scientific fellow at Fluidigm Corporation, where he pioneered novel assays on microfluidic platforms, and he is alliance manager at the Broad Institute, where he researches single-cell genomics. Livak holds 27 U.S. patents and has served on the Harvey Mudd Clinic Advisory Committee and the Corporate Advisory Council of the Keck Graduate Institute.
Tyrel M. McQueen ’04 Materials chemist
McQueen (chemistry) is an assistant professor in chemistry and physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University and is the recipient of two prestigious fellowships recognizing young faculty members in science and engineering. At Johns Hopkins, McQueen’s laboratory is focused on the design, discovery and synthesis of materials with exotic electronic states that have applications ranging from energy to fundamental science. Particular emphasis is placed on experimentally determining how simple, local interactions give rise to a plethora of emergent phenomena.
Russell L. Merris ’64 Award-winning teacher
Merris (engineering) promotes the beauty of mathematics and its many relationships to other disciplines. An emeritus professor at California State University, East Bay, he instituted The Challenge—a key test to assess 11th graders’ math readiness—which is used throughout the CSU system. He has written or cowritten more than 110 research papers and four textbooks and has received numerous accolades, including the CSU system’s outstanding professor award.
George B. Zimmerman ’69 Technology pioneer
Zimmerman (physics) worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he developed methods to analyze and model high-energy processes and atomic particle interactions. His research led to the development of the LASNEX inertial confinement fusion computer program, used to design laser fusion targets and analyze experiments. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and is a recipient of many awards, including the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award for contributions to national security and the Defense Programs Award.
SPRING 2014
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