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Marked by a monthlong celebration of the Free Speech Movement and the unveiling of plans for an ambitious new Berkeley Global Campus, 2014 at UC Berkeley was both a year to remember and a time to reimagine the future.
People archive
Quigley medal honors late real estate professor
December 19, 2014: The new John M. Quigley Medal has been established in memory of the late Berkeley-Haas housing expert and his extensive body of scholarly work in the fields of urban economics and housing policy. Professor Quigley passed away in May 2012.
Napolitano appointed to Goldman School faculty
December 18, 2014: UC President Janet Napolitano has been appointed to the faculty of UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, Dean Henry Brady announced today (Thursday, Dec. 18).
Roberto Zoncu profile: Starving cancer
December 18, 2014: In a profile by The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2014 Pew Scholar Roberto Zoncu discusses the adventure of science and his own research to find a way to starve cancer of nutrients. A native of Sardinia, Italy, Zoncu is an assistant professor of molecular cell biology and a recipient of a NIH Innovator Award.
Dirks, Richmonders get down to business on global campus
December 15, 2014: The chancellor met Thursday with Richmond civic leaders and city residents to hear their perspectives, and to reiterate — and reinforce — his commitment to the community as the new Berkeley Global Campus moves ahead.
Mark Bittman’s menu to include UC Berkeley
December 11, 2014: Mark Bittman, popular food writer and New York Times columnist, will be a distinguished visiting fellow on campus during spring semester, collaborating with faculty, staff and students connected to the Berkeley Food Institute.
Food luminaries to light up spring semester
December 11, 2014: The Berkeley Food Institute is drawing food and agriculture experts to campus from across the country to address challenges and find solutions to problems in the food sector. Among the luminaries headed to campus this spring is New York Times columnist and writer Mark Bittman, who will co-host the popular Edible Education 101 course. Also: Q&A with Mark Bittman
UC Berkeley anthropologist-physician wins Margaret Mead Award
December 9, 2014: Seth Holmes, an assistant professor of the UCSF-UC Berkeley Joint Medical Anthropology program, teaches in Berkeley’s School of Public Health and is the director of ISSI’s Berkeley Center for Social Medicine.
Ph.D. on hold, White House fellow’s stars align at NASA
December 4, 2014: Dan Hammer, a Berkeley Ph.D. candidate, has been a volunteer firefighter, was instrumental in launching Global Forest Watch, taught math at San Quentin, raced canoes in the South Pacific, and boasts a personal-best 27 seconds at solving a Rubik’s Cube. And now he’s a Presidential Innovation Fellow, working on quantum computing for NASA.
Big Ideas guest lecturer Wendy Schmidt advocates for a sea change
November 26, 2014: Schmidt Ocean Institute co-founder Wendy Schmidt delivered a guest lecture to students in the College of Letters and Science’s Big Ideas “Oceans” course, telling them a sea change was needed to rebuild humans’ relationship with the planet. “We are the last generation to have the chance to do something about this,” said the Graduate School of Journalism alumna, who is president of the Schmidt Family Foundation.
For student regent, sitting on UC board means taking a stand
November 25, 2014: Though she’s missed classes, lost sleep and put her social life on hold since becoming UC student regent in July, Berkeley social-welfare major Sadia Saifuddin is upbeat about the role, calling it a “blessing” and a job “I was meant to do.”
Carol Christ named director of Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE)
November 24, 2014: Carol T. Christ, longtime UC Berkeley administrator and professor as well as a recent president of Smith College, will be the new director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education at Berkeley, Chancellor Dirks and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Steele announced today (Monday, Nov. 24).
Engineering’s Fiona Doyle named new dean of the Graduate Division
November 20, 2014: Engineering professor Fiona Doyle will serve as the new dean of the Graduate Division at UC Berkeley, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Claude Steele announced today (Thursday, Nov. 20). She will begin her new role on Jan. 1.
All in the family: Parents, undergrads study at Berkeley at the same time
November 18, 2014: Jayanthi (Jay) Srinivasan, a software manager in Cupertino, and Sandeep Garg, a cardiologist in Lake Oswego, Ore., have two things in common: Both are students in the Berkeley Haas School’s MBA for Executives Program, and both have daughters who are sophomores at Berkeley. What’s it like for the two generations to experience Berkeley at the same time?
Obituary: Barclay Simpson, alum, business leader, philanthropist
November 12, 2014: Chancellor Dirks lauds Simpson, who died this week at the age of 93, as “a larger-than-life figure” and “passionate supporter” of UC Berkeley.
Students’ ‘Feeding Forward’ fights hunger, food waste
November 12, 2014: A food-recovery program developed by Berkeley students makes it simple for businesses and organizations to list perishable-food surpluses, and to speed those donations to social agencies that feed the hungry. In the Bay Area, more than a half-million pounds of food have been distributed since the the launch of “Feeding Forward” in 2013. Now its founders hope to scale up.
Haas MBA student-veteran to be honored at 49ers game
November 10, 2014: First-year Haas MBA student and former Marine Capt. Mike Christman will be on the field at half-time in San Francisco 49ers game on November 23rd, one of 60 people selected to be honored as Tillman Military Scholars. The program recognizes veterans for their leadership and academic excellence.
Why voting matters (or not) — Berkeley students weigh in 
November 4, 2014: Undergrads on Sproul Plaza share their views on the election — whether they’re exercising their right to vote this time, and what races and issues matter to them most.
The skinny on soda taxes, in under 3 minutes
November 3, 2014: Professor Alan Auerbach answers some key questions about the initiatives on Tuesday’s ballot in Berkeley and San Francisco to add taxes to purchases of most sweetened drinks. Auerbach is director of the Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance at UC Berkeley.
Hell-bent on getting out the vote
October 28, 2014: Sarah Funes’ million-dollar question is how to get minorities excited about voting. The UC Berkeley junior, who has lobbied in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., advised transit agencies and been a poll worker, says her political passion comes from being “Latin, a woman and disabled. I want to elect people who look like me.”
Mavis Staples reflects on activism and music, past and present
October 28, 2014: Mavis Staples, whose campus visit Thursday (Oct. 30) culminated with a show presented by Cal Peformances, grew up singing as part of the Staples Singers, a family group that became widely known in the 1960s for songs that helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement. Staples, now going solo, says a lot of the older songs are still relevant today.
The skinny on soda taxes, in under 3 minutes
October 28, 2014: As the Nov. 4 election nears, Professor Alan Auerbach answers some key questions about the initiatives in Berkeley and San Francisco to add taxes to purchases of sweetened drinks. Auerbach is director of the Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance.
How Brittany Maynard decided to ‘go with dignity’ — and to go public
October 27, 2014: Diagnosed with terminal brain cancer earlier this year, the 29-year-old UC Berkeley psychology graduate has uprooted her life in the Bay Area and moved to Oregon so that when her symptoms grow intolerable, she can legally swallow a lethal dose of medication. Her story is in California Magazine.
Bassem Youssef, ‘Egypt’s Jon Stewart,’ heads to campus
October 23, 2014: As part of the Free Speech Movement’s 50th-anniversary commemoration, the political satirist is set to appear Oct. 29 at Zellerbach Hall to talk with Chancellor Nicholas Dirks about free speech and social change.
Physicist Hitoshi Murayama addresses UN on science and peace
October 23, 2014: In a keynote address at an Oct. 20 UN event highlighting the role of science in bridging nations, UC Berkeley physicist Hitoshi Murayama argued that “basic scientific research is a true peacemaker for humankind.” The event celebrated the 60th anniversary of CERN. Murayama also is director of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe in Tokyo.
Bancroft opens stunning California Captured on Canvas exhibit
October 21, 2014: The Bancroft Library is providing a window onto California’s unique history and culture with an new exhibit of oil paintings from its pictorial collection, some of which haven’t been publicly displayed before.
Randy Schekman named to Institute of Medicine
October 21, 2014: Nobelist Randy Schekman, a UC Berkeley professor of cell and developmental biology, has been named to the prestigious Institute of Medicine, one of the highest national honors in the fields of health and medicine.
Campus mourns the loss of David Wessel, pioneer in music and science
October 20, 2014: David L. Wessel, who forged new territory in the arena of cognitive science, computer programming and music, has died at the age of 72. He was a leader in the campus’s Center for New Music and Audio Technology and its music department.
Centenarian finally gets his degree — 70 years later
October 7, 2014: It may have taken Hugh D. Williams more than 70 years to get his UC Berkeley degree. But at age 101, he finally did it. Williams received the diploma recently at the senior complex where he lives in Cupertino.
Dirks, Udacity CEO square off in online-learning debate
October 6, 2014: UC Berkeley’s chancellor joined Sebastian Thrun, founder and CEO of Udacity, on the World Affairs Council’s stage to discuss the growth of online learning and how it will affect 21st-century models of education.
