Volume 2, Issue 10
Dean's Message
Clayton H. Heathcock
Dean, College of Chemistry, & Gilbert Newton Lewis Professor (courtesy Peg Skorpinski)
April 2005
Dear Friends,
Whether searching the skies for far-away planets or developing materials and devices on the nanoscale, scientists work on questions big and small and everything in between, as evidenced by the work of the three scientists profiled in this issue of ScienceMatters@Berkeley. I hope you enjoy reading about the diverse fields of study found in our two colleges.
One of our renowned faculty members, physicist Charles H. Townes, has been awarded the prestigious 2005 Templeton Prize, which honors and encourages those who advance knowledge in spiritual matters, http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2005/03/17_townes.shtml. Townes, who won the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics, has maintained a continuing interest in the intersection of science and religion. His seminal 1966 article, "The Convergence of Science and Religion," established him as a unique voice seeking commonality between the two disciplines. Today he remains an active professor in the graduate school and continues to write and lecture all over the world on the topic.
On a more somber note, we were recently saddened by the death of Leo Brewer, emeritus professor of chemistry. Brewer, a member of the Manhattan Project who later specialized in high-temperature thermodynamics, leaves a legacy of contributions in fields as diverse as organic chemistry, astrochemistry, ceramics, and metallurgy.
Finally, it looks like everything big is really pretty small. That's the gist of the Berkeley Nanotechnology Forum, highlighted in this issue's Berkeley's Scientific Legacy. Scheduled for April 30 at the Haas School of Business, the popular event, now in its second year, brings together scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and everyone else interested in nanoscience, touted as the "next big thing." To register and get more information, visit their website at http://nanoclub.berkeley.edu. The event promises to be a great success and we look forward to seeing you there.
On a personal note, this is the last issue for which I will be addressing you as Dean of the College of Chemistry. Starting on July 1, I am off to serve as Chief Scientist for QB3--the California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research. This cooperative effort focuses on multidisciplinary research--a concept we are becoming very familiar with at Berkeley. The establishment of numerous collaborative initiatives, including QB3, CITRIS, the Berkeley Nanosciences and Nanoengineering Institute, and Computational and Genomic Biology, as well as the move this spring of a number of bioscience laboratories to the spacious building at 717 Potter Street in Berkeley, are all evidence of the campus's strong support of complementary approaches to solving medical and technological problems in both our society and throughout the world. I look forward to developing new scientific programs across the three QB3 campuses and with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Clayton H. Heathcock
Dean, College of Chemistry
UC Berkeley
heathcock@berkeley.edu