Volume 1, Issue 1
Dean's Message
Mark Richards
Dean, Physical Sciences
June 2004
Dear Friends,
Science matters at Berkeley! That's why we are so pleased to introduce this aptly-named new electronic newsletter about groundbreaking research in the physical and biological sciences at this nation's premier public university. In this inaugural issue you will learn about real-world applications of nano-crystals, find out how to monkey-wrench the hepatitis virus, and see how one Berkeley cosmologist is shedding light on the mystery of dark matter in the Universe. Each month we will highlight the research of several Berkeley science faculty, take a look back at historic milestones, and share the thoughts of Berkeley's science deans on new developments in our colleges and departments.
You are probably aware of the serious budgetary woes of the State of California, which have led to what we hope is a short-term budget crisis on campus as well. However, some of the fog appears to be lifting with the University's new multi-year compact with Governor Schwarzenegger, and we have enjoyed a wonderful year of recognition for the achievements of Berkeley faculty. The campus is celebrating the election of five new members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) from Berkeley: Paul Alivisatos (chemistry), Phillip Colella (computational science), Raymond Jeanloz (earth and planetary science), George Oster (cell and developmental biology), and Peter Quail (plant biology). Among the dozens of major awards won by Berkeley science faculty are the Norbert Wiener Award in Applied Mathematics to James Sethian, the NAS Hollaender Award in biophysics to Carlos Bustamante, the George Ellery Hale Award of the American Astronomical Society to Robert Lin, and the Roger Revelle Medal of the American Geophysical Union to Inez Fung. You will find Alivisatos' research highlighted in this issue of our new publication. Look for profiles of the other award winners in future issues.
An underlying theme of ScienceMatters@Berkeley will be the emerging unity of the natural sciences across traditional disciplinary lines, and the growing centrality of the physical and mathematical sciences in all of science and engineering. We hope you'll join us for this monthly journey of scientific exploration. As always, your comments, insights, and ideas would be most appreciated.
Best wishes,
Mark Richards
Professor of Earth and Planetary Science
Dean, Division of Physical Sciences
College of Letters and Science
UC Berkeley
Mark_Richards@ls.berkeley.edu