Dear Alums, Once again, it has been a busy fall! The Alumni Association’s fall activities got off to an early and energetic start with the Senior Class dinner on September 9. Now in its second year, this event kicks off both the senior year and the growing Senior Class Campaign. The college’s participation in Homecoming Weekend was a big success, including a continental breakfast and an overflowing crowd for the lecture by chemistry professor Richmond Sarpong on October 3. Our Free Radicals group (1964–79) combined their annual event with a Campaign Kickoff on October 30. College lecturer Mark Kubinec gave the group a sneak preview of a new online eChem curriculum. The Free Radicals have set an endowed professorship and renovations to the undergraduate labs as their campaign goals.
Please check the website (chemistry.berkeley. edu/alumni) for the latest news from your alumni association. We hope to see you soon. Go Bears!
Berni J. Alder (M.S. ChemE) is among nine eminent researchers to receive the 2009 National Medal of Science, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists, engineers and inventors for their outstanding contributions to science and engineering. A retired physicist from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Alder is widely regarded as the founder of molecular dynamics, a computer simulation used to study motions and interactions of atoms over time. While working on his Ph.D. at Caltech, he and computer designer Stan Frankel developed a computer technique, now known as the Monte Carlo method, for calculating results from random sampling. His subsequent work at the newly-established Lawrence Livermore lab led to publication of his pioneering work on molecular dynamics. In 1963, Alder helped found the UC Davis Department of Applied Science.
and sales and marketing committee. He also writes articles to promote both Bentley Village and Junior Achievement of SW Florida and is a member of Bentley’s men’s golf association. Before retirement he worked for Schering-Plough in New Jersey.
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In July, Edwin T. Strom (M.S. Chem) was among the 162 fellows selected from the American Chemical Society’s 154,000 members to be named inaugural American Chemical Society Fellows, chosen for “true excellence in their contributions to the chemical enterprise coupled with distinctive service to ACS or to the broader world of chemistry.” He was also elected Chair-Elect of the American Chemical Society Division of the History of Chemistry. Strom serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas, Arlington, where he teaches organic and polymer chemistry. He and his wife, Charlotte, make their home in Dallas.
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Henry M. Neumann (Ph.D. Chem) retired this year from the faculty of Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He makes his home in Decatur.
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Frederick M. Peterson (B.S. ChemE) is president of Probe Economics Inc in Hanover, NH, providing clients with chemical industry planning, forecasting and consulting services.
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Max J. Kalm (Ph.D. Chem) and his wife, Lila, enjoy retirement at Bentley Village in Naples, FL, where he serves on their resident council
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After 35 years in the engineering/ construction industry with Fluor and Jacobs, where he started as a process engineer, Richard C. Delaney (B.S. ChemE) retired as an engineering group manager. He now enjoys “a life of golf and leisure” in Indio, CA.
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—REBECCA ZUCKERMAN
Ph.D.’00, Chem Chair, Chemistry & Chemical Engineering Alumni Association Steering Team
JoAnne Stubbe (Ph.D. Chem) was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Science this year for her work on enzymes involved in DNA replication and repair. A professor of chemistry and biology at MIT, Stubbe was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1992. She has served on the College of Chemistry Advisory Board and will be the college’s 2010 commencement speaker.
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STEPHANIE WONG
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More than 150 friends, alums and faculty members attended the AIChE reception in Nashville, TN, on November 11, and we held the Alumni of the G. N. Lewis Era luncheon on November 19.
Class Notes
Free Radicals Alumni Event and Campaign Kickoff: (l.) Mark Wegner (Ph.D. ’77, Chem) chats with Tom (M.S. ’73, Chem E) and Marty De Jonghe in the remodeled Bixby Commons. (r.) Kirk Lao (B.S. ’09, ChemE) and Baljit Kaur (B.S. ’11, ChemE) enjoy the balmy weather and great food at the 2nd annual senior class dinner.
College of Chemistry, UC Berkeley