List of University of California, Berkeley faculty

This page lists notable faculty (past and present) of the University of California, Berkeley. Faculty who were also alumni are listed in bold font, with degree and year in parentheses.

By award

Nobel laureates

Faculty of the University of California, Berkeley
James P. Allison, Nobel laureate (2018, medicine)
George Akerlof, Nobel laureate (2001, economics)
Luis Alvarez, Nobel laureate (1968, physics)
Eric Betzig, Nobel laureate (2014, chemistry)
Steven Chu, Nobel laureate (1997, physics) and 12th United States Secretary of Energy
Gérard Debreu, Nobel laureate (1983, economics)
Donald A. Glaser, Nobel laureate (1960, physics)
Ernest Lawrence, Nobel laureate (1939, physics)
Saul Perlmutter, Nobel laureate (2011, Physics)
Randy Schekman, Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 2013)
Paul Romer, Nobel laureate (2018, Economics)
Glenn T. Seaborg, Nobel laureate (1951, Chemistry)
Emilio G. Segrè, Nobel laureate (1959, physics)
George F. Smoot, Nobel laureate (2006, Physics)
Oliver E. Williamson, Nobel laureate (2009, Economics)
Richard Karp, 1985 Turing Award laureate
Dana Scott, 1976 Turing Award laureate
David A. Patterson, 2017 Turing Award laureate
Andrew Yao, 2000 Turing Award laureate
Richard Borcherds, recipient of the 1998 Fields Medal
Michael Freedman, recipient of the 1986 Fields Medal
Vaughan Jones, recipient of the 1990 Fields Medal
Andrei Okounkov (right), recipient of the 2006 Fields Medal
  • George A. Akerlof – Professor of Economics (1980–2010); Nobel laureate (2001, economics) for the "analyses of markets with asymmetric information"[1]
  • James P. Allison – Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, Director of the Cancer Research Laboratory (1985–2004);[2] Nobel laureate (2018, Physiology or Medicine) for the "discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation"[3]
  • Luis Walter Alvarez – Professor of Physics; Nobel laureate (1968, physics) "for his decisive contributions to elementary particle physics, in particular the discovery of a large number of resonance states, made possible through his development of the technique of using hydrogen bubble chamber and data analysis"[4]
  • Carolyn R. Bertozzi (Ph.D. 1993) – Professor of Chemistry (1996–2015); Nobel laureate (2022, chemistry),"for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry"[5]
  • Eric Betzig – Professor of Physics and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology;[6] Nobel laureate (2014, chemistry),"for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy."[7]
  • Elizabeth Blackburn – Associate Professor (1978–1986), Professor (1986–1990); Nobel laureate (2009, Physiology or Medicine) for the "discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase."[8][9]
  • Melvin Calvin – University Professor of Chemistry, discovered Calvin Cycle; Nobel laureate (1961, chemistry), "for his research on the carbon dioxide assimilation in plants"[10]
  • Owen Chamberlain – Professor of Physics; Nobel laureate (1959, physics) for the "discovery of the antiproton"[11]
  • Steven Chu (Ph.D. 1976) – Professor of Physics, Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2004–2008); 12th U.S. Secretary of Energy; Nobel laureate (1997, physics), "for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light"[12]
  • John F. Clauser – Postdoctoral researcher (1969–1975), research physicist (1990–1997); Nobel laureate (2022, physics) "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science."[13][14]
  • Gérard Debreu – Professor of Economics and of Mathematics; Nobel laureate (1983, economics) "for having incorporated new analytical methods into economic theory and for his rigorous reformulation of the theory of general equilibrium"[15]
  • Gérard Debreu – Professor of Economics and of Mathematics; Nobel laureate (1983, economics) "for having incorporated new analytical methods into economic theory and for his rigorous reformulation of the theory of general equilibrium"[16]
  • Jennifer Doudna — Professor at the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 1989) – Nobel laureate (2020, Chemistry) “for the development of a method for genome editing” [17]
  • Donald A. Glaser – Professor of Molecular Biology and Professor of Physics; Nobel laureate (1960, physics) "for the invention of the bubble chamber"[18]
  • John C. Harsanyi – Professor Emeritus of Economics; Nobel laureate (1994, economics) for "pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games"[19]
  • Ernest O. Lawrence – Nobel laureate (1939, physics) "for the invention and development of the cyclotron and for results obtained with it, especially with regard to artificial radioactive elements"[20]
  • Yuan T. Lee (Ph.D. 1962) – Professor of Chemistry, Principal Investigator, Materials and Molecular Research Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; Nobel laureate (1986, Chemistry) for "contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes"[21]
  • Willard Libby (B.S. 1931, Ph.D. 1933) – Professor of Chemistry; Nobel laureate (1960, Chemistry) "for his method to use carbon-14 for age determination in archaeology, geology, geophysics, and other branches of science"[22]
  • Daniel L. McFadden – E. Morris Cox Professor Emeritus of Economics; Nobel laureate (2000, economics) "for his development of theory and methods for analyzing discrete choice"[23]
  • Edwin M. McMillan – Professor of Physics, Director of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (1958–1972); Nobel laureate (1951, chemistry) for "discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements"[24]
  • Czesław Miłosz – Professor Emeritus of Slavic Languages and Literature; Nobel laureate (1980, literature) "who with uncompromising clear-sightedness voices man's exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts"[25]
  • John H. Northrop – Professor of Bacteriology and Medical Physics; Nobel laureate (1946, chemistry) for "preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form"[26]
  • Svante Pääbo – Postdoctoral researcher (1987–1990); 2022 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine "for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution."[27][28]
  • Saul Perlmutter (Ph.D. 1986) – Professor of Physics, co-discoverer of dark energy as head of the Supernova Cosmology Project; recipient of the Shaw Prize in Astronomy in 2006; Nobel laureate (2011, Physics)[29] "for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae"
  • Stanley B. Prusiner – Professor of Virology in Residence;[30] Nobel laureate (1997, Physiology or Medicine) "for his discovery of Prions, a new biological principle of infection"[31] (known as the mechanism powering mad cow disease); recipient of the 1996 Wolf Prize in Medicine[32]"for discovering prions, new class of pathogens that cause important neurodegenerative disease by inducing changes in protein structure"
  • Paul Romer – Professor of Economics; Nobel laureate (2018, Economics) "for integrating technological innovations into long-run macroeconomic analysis"[33][34]
  • Randy Schekman – Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology; Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 2013) for "discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells"[35]
  • Glenn T. Seaborg (Ph.D. 1937) – University Professor of Chemistry, Associate Director of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Chancellor of the UC Berkeley (1958–1961); Nobel laureate (1951, Chemistry) for "discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements"[24]
  • Emilio G. Segrè – Professor Emeritus of Physics; Nobel laureate (1959, physics) for the "discovery of the antiproton"[11]
  • Herbert A. Simon – Director of research (1939–1942), Nobel laureate (1978, Economics) "for his pioneering research into the decision-making process within economic organizations"[36][37][38][39]
  • George F. Smoot – Nobel laureate (2006, Physics) for the "discovery of the black body form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation"[40]
  • Wendell M. Stanley – Nobel laureate (1946, chemistry) for the "preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form"[26]
  • Charles H. Townes – University Professor of Physics; Nobel laureate (1964, physics) "for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle"[41]
  • Oliver E. Williamson – Professor Emeritus of Business and Professor Emeritus of Economics and Law; Nobel laureate (2009, Economics), for "work in economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm"[42]

Turing Award

  • Manuel Blum – Professor of Computer Science (1995–2001) and recipient of the 1995 Turing Award, for "his contributions to the foundations of computational complexity theory and its application to cryptography and program checking"[43]
  • Stephen Cook – Professor of mathematics (1966–1970), recipient of the 1982 Turing Award "for his advancement of our understanding of the complexity of computation in a significant and profound way"[44]
  • Edward Feigenbaum – professor (1960–1965), recipient of the 1994 Turing Award "for pioneering the design and construction of large scale artificial intelligence systems, demonstrating the practical importance and potential commercial impact of artificial intelligence technology"[45]
  • William Kahan – Professor of Mathematics and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (1968–present), primary architect behind the IEEE 754 standard for floating-point computation, and recipient of the 1989 Turing Award, for "his fundamental contributions to numerical analysis. Kahan has dedicated himself to "making the world safe for numerical computations"[46]
  • Richard Karp – Professor of Computer Science, Mathematics, and Operations Research (1968–present), and recipient of the 1985 Turing Award For "his continuing contributions to the theory of algorithms including the development of efficient algorithms for network flow and other combinatorial optimization problems, the identification of polynomial-time computability with the intuitive notion of algorithmic efficiency, and, most notably, contributions to the theory of NP-completeness. Karp introduced the now standard methodology for proving problems to be NP-complete which has led to the identification of many theoretical and practical problems as being computationally difficult. "[47]
  • David A. Patterson – professor of computer science (1976–2016) and Pardee Professor of Computer Scientist, Emeritus, at UC Berkeley; distinguished engineer at Google;[48] pioneer of RISC computer design and RAID storage systems; 2017 Turing Award "for pioneering a systematic, quantitative approach to the design and evaluation of computer architectures with enduring impact on the microprocessor industry."[49]
  • Dana Scott, B.S. 1954 – computer scientist, co-recipient of the 1976 Turing Award with Michael O. Rabin, for "the joint paper (with Rabin) "Finite Automata and Their Decision Problem", which introduced the idea of nondeterministic machines, which has proved to be an enormously valuable concept. Their (Scott & Rabin) classic paper has been a continuous source of inspiration for subsequent work in this field"; former Associate Professor of Math at UC Berkeley (1960–1962); professor emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University[50]
  • Herbert A. Simon – director 1939–1942,[36][37] co-recipient of the 1975 Turing Award[38] for "basic contributions to artificial intelligence, the psychology of human cognition, and list processing",[39] and Nobel laureate (1978, Economics)[38] "for his pioneering research into the decision-making process within economic organizations"
  • Michael Stonebraker – professor at UC Berkeley for 29 years, recipient of the 2014 Turing Award "for fundamental contributions to the concepts and practices underlying modern database systems"[51]
  • Ivan Sutherland – Visiting Scholar in Computer Science (2005–2008), recipient of the 1988 Turing Award "for his pioneering and visionary contributions to computer graphics, starting with Sketchpad, and continuing after"[52][53]
  • Robert Tarjan – computer scientist, professor at UC Berkeley[54] (1973–1975), recipient of the 1986 Turing Award "for fundamental achievements in the design and analysis of algorithms and data structures"[55]
  • Andrew Yao – professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley (1981–1982);[56][57] 2014 Visiting Scientist at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at UC Berkeley;[58] currently Distinguished Professor at Large at the Chinese University of Hong Kong;Turing Award (2000) "in recognition of his fundamental contributions to the theory of computation, including the complexity-based theory of pseudorandom number generation, cryptography, and communication complexity"[56]

Academy Award

Fields Medal

Pulitzer Prize

Wolf Prize

  • Paul Alivisatos (Ph.D. 1986) – Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science and Professor of Nanotechnology; recipient of the 2012 Wolf Prize in Chemistry,[82] for the development of "the colloidal inorganic nanocrystal as a building block of nanoscience making fundamental contributions to controlling the synthesis of these particles, to measuring and understanding their physical properties, and to utilizing their unique properties for applications ranging from light generation and harvesting to biological imaging"[83]
  • James P. Allison – professor at UC Berkeley (1985–2004); 2017 Wolf Prize in Medicine "for sparking a revolution in cancer therapy through (his) discovery of immune checkpoint blockade"[84]
  • Robert G. Bergman – professor of chemistry (1977–present) at UC Berkeley;[85] 2017 Wolf Prize in Chemistry "for the discovery of the activation of C-H bonds of hydrocarbons by soluble transition metal complexes"[86]
  • Carolyn R. Bertozzi (Ph.D. 1993) – professor of chemistry (1996–2015); 2022 Wolf Prize in Chemistry for "seminal contributions to understanding the chemistry of cellular communication and inventing chemical methodologies to study the role of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins in such biological processes"[87]
  • John Casida – recipient of the Wolf Prize (1993, Agriculture) "for his pioneering studies on the mode of action of insecticides, design of safer pesticides and contributions to the understanding of nerve and muscle function in insects"[88]
  • Shiing-Shen Chern – recipient of the Wolf Prize (1983, Mathematics), "'for outstanding contributions to global differential geometry, which have profoundly influenced all mathematics"[89]
  • John Clauser – professor (1969–1996) of quantum physics at UC Berkeley,[90] known for the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality and the first observations of quantum entanglement, recipient of the 2010 Wolf Prize in Physics[91] for "fundamental conceptual and experimental contributions to the foundations of quantum physics, specifically an increasingly sophisticated series of tests of Bell's inequalities or extensions there of using entangled quantum states"
  • Jennifer DoudnaLi Ka Shing Chancellor's Chair in Biomedical and Health Sciences, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, and Professor of Chemistry at Berkeley; recipient of the 2022 Wolf Prize in Chemistry, "for revealing the medicine-revolutionizing mechanism of bacterial immunity via RNA-guided genome editing"[92]
  • Phillip Griffiths (professor 1962-1967) – mathematician, recipient of the Wolf Prize (2008, Mathematics), "for his work on variations of Hodge structure; the theory of periods of abelian integrals; and for his contributions to complex differential geometry";[93] former professor at UC Berkeley[94]
  • Erwin Hahn – recipient of the Wolf Prize (1983/1984, Physics) "for his discovery of nuclear spin echoes and for the phenomenon of self-induced transparency"[95]
  • John F. Hartwig (Ph.D. 1990) – 2019 Wolf Prize in Chemistry "for the development of efficient transition-metal catalysts that have revolutionized drug manufacturing, leading to breakthroughs in molecule and synthetics design";[96][97] Henry Rapoport Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley (2011-present)
  • Carl Huffaker – recipient of the Wolf Prize (1994/1995) for " contributions to the development and implementation of environmentally beneficial integrated pest management systems for the protection of agricultural crops"[88]
  • George C. Pimentel (Ph.D. 1949) – professor at UC Berkeley (1949–1989); inventor of the chemical laser;[98] Wolf Prize (Chemistry, 1982) "for development of matrix isolation spectroscopy and for the discovery of photodissociation lasers and chemical lasers"[99]
  • Alexander Pines – recipient of the Wolf Prize (Chemistry, 1991), "for his revolutionary contributions to NMR spectroscopy, especially multiple-quantum and high-spin NMR""[100]
  • Stanley B. Prusiner – Professor of Virology in Residence (1984-present),[30] Nobel laureate (1997, Physiology or Medicine) "for his discovery of Prions, a new biological principle of infection"[31] (known as the mechanism powering mad cow disease); recipient of the 1996 Wolf Prize in Medicine[32]"for discovering prions, new class of pathogens that cause important neurodegenerative disease by inducing changes in protein structure"
  • Peter G. Schultz – professor of chemistry (1985–1999) at UC Berkeley;[101] 1994 Wolf Prize in Chemistry "for converting antibodies into enzymes, thus permitting the catalysis of chemical reactions considered impossible to achieve by classical chemical procedures"[102]
  • Stephen Smale – recipient of the Wolf Prize (2007, Mathematics)"for his groundbreaking contributions that have played a fundamental role in shaping differential topology, dynamical systems, mathematical economics, and other subjects in mathematics"[89]
  • Gabor Somorjai (Ph.D. 1960) – recipient of the 1998 Wolf Prize (Chemistry) for "outstanding contributions to the field of the surface science in general, and for... elucidation of fundamental mechanisms of heterogeneous catalytic reactions at single crystal surfaces in particular"[100]
  • Roger Y. Tsien – recipient of the Wolf Prize (Medicine, 2004) "for his seminal contribution to the design and biological application of novel fluorescent and photolabile molecules to analyze and perturb cell signal transduction" (also listed in Nobel laureates)[103]
  • Omar M. Yaghi – The James and Neeltje Tretter Professor of Chemistry (2012-present) and Senior Faculty Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; recipient of the Wolf Prize (Chemistry, 2018) for "“pioneering reticular chemistry via metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs).”"[104]
  • David Zilberman (Ph.D. 1979) – 2019 Wolf Prize in Agriculture[105] "for developing economic models that address fundamental issues in agriculture, economics and policymaking";[97] Professor (holder of the Robinson Chair) in the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department at UC Berkeley (1979-present)[106]

Breakthrough Prize

National Medal of Science

  • Luis Walter Alvarez – 1963 National Medal of Science "for his inspiring leadership in experimental high energy physics, continuing development of the bubble chamber, discovery of many states of elementary particles, and his contributions to National defense"[116](also listed in §Nobel laureates)
  • Paul Alivisatos, Ph.D. 1986 – Samsung Distinguished Professor in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Research[117] and Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science & Engineering; National Medal of Science "for his foundational contributions to the field of nanoscience; for the development of nanocrystals as a building block of nanotechnologies; and for his leadership in the nanoscience community."[118]
  • Bruce Ames – Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UC Berkeley[119] and Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center; 1998 National Medal of Science "for changing the direction of basic and applied research on mutation, cancer and aging by devising a simple, inexpensive test for environmental and natural mutagens, by identifying causes and effects of oxidative DNA damage, and by translating these findings into intelligible public policy recommendations on diet and cancer risk for the American people"[120]
  • Horace Barker – Professor of Biochemistry (1936–1975);[121] 1968 National Medal of Science "for his profound study of the chemical activities of microorganisms, including the unraveling of fatty acid metabolism and the discovery of the active coenzyme form of vitamin B12"[122]
  • Melvin Calvin – University Professor of Chemistry (1937–1980);[123] 1989 National Medal of Science "for his pioneering studies in the mechanism of photosynthesis and bioenergetics, and for the application of scientific theory toward the solution of the most fundamental problems of the age-energy, food, chemical and viral carcinogenesis, and the origin of life"[124](also listed in §Nobel laureates)
  • Shiing-Shen Chern – Professor of Mathematics at UC Berkeley(1960–1979); founder and inaugural director (1981–1984) of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute at UC Berkeley; namesake of Chern Hall, the Chern Medal, and the Chern Prize.[125] 1975 National Medal of Science "for developing and extending techniques that led to profound discoveries in geometry and topology."[126] (also listed in §Wolf Prize)
  • Alexandre Chorin – Professor of mathematics at Berkeley, University Professor at the University of California. 2012 National Medal of Science "for the development of revolutionary methods for realistic fluid-flow simulation, now ubiquitous in the modeling and design of engines, aircraft wings, and heart valves, and in the analysis of natural flows."[127]
  • Ray W. Clough – Professor of Structural Engineering at UC Berkeley (1949–1987);[128] 1994 National Medal of Science "for his outstanding contributions in the fields of finite element analysis, structural dynamics, and earthquake engineering which had extraordinary influence in the development of modern engineering"[129]
  • Marvin L. Cohen – University Professor of Physics;[130] 2001 National Medal of Science "for his creation and application of a quantum theory for explaining and predicting properties of real materials, which formed the basis for semiconductor physics and nanoscience"[131]
  • Peter Goldreich – 1990 Miller Professorship at UC Berkeley;[132] 1995 National Medal of Science "for his profound and lasting contributions to planetary sciences and astrophysics, providing fundamental theoretical insights for understanding the rotation of planets, the dynamics of planetary rings, pulsars, astrophysical masers, the spiral arms of galaxies, and the oscillations of the Sun"[133]
  • Darleane C. Hoffman – professor (now emerita) UC Berkeley since 1984;[134] 1997 National Medal of Science "for her discovery of primordial plutonium in nature and the symmetric spontaneous fission of heavy nuclei; for pioneering studies of elements 104, 105, and 106, and for her outstanding service to education of students in nuclear chemistry and as director of the Seaborg Institute for Transactinium Science of the University of California"[135]
  • Dudley R. Herschbach – member of the Chemical Faculty at UC Berkeley (1959–1963);[136] 1991 National Medal of Science "for his seminal contributions to the fundamental understanding of reactions of atoms and molecules, collision by collision"[137]
  • Leonid Hurwicz – Visiting Professor(1976–1977) at UC Berkeley; 1990 National Medal of Science "for his pioneering work on the theory of modern decentralized allocation mechanisms"[138] (also listed in List of Nobel laureates affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley)
  • Harold S. Johnston – professor of chemistry (1957–1991) at UC Berkeley and dean of the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley (1966–1970);[139] 1997 National Medal of Science "for his major contributions to the chemical sciences in the areas of kinetics and photochemistry, and for his pivotal role in providing understanding and conservation of the Earth's atmospheric environment"[140]
  • Richard M. Karp – professor (1968–1994 and 1999–present) of EECS at UC Berkeley;[141] 1996 National Medal of Science "for his pioneering research in theoretical computer science and the development of NP-Completeness, a concept having an important role in the theory and the practice of computation"[142]
  • Judith P. Klinman- professor (1978–present);[143] 2012 National Medal of Science "for her discoveries of fundamental chemical and physical principles underlying enzyme catalysis and her leadership in the community of scientists.""[144]
  • Daniel E. Koshland Jr., BA 1941 – professor of biochemistry (1965–2007)[145] at UC Berkeley; 1990 National Medal of Science "for profoundly influencing the understanding of how proteins function through his induced-fit model of enzyme actrion. His incisive analysis of bacterial chemotaxis has led to a deeper understanding of the molecular basis of memory and adaptation."[146]
  • Yuan T. Lee, Ph.D. 1965 – professor of chemistry at UC Berkeley; 1986 National Medal of Science "for his world leadership in the development of molecular beam techniques and their application to the study of chemical dynamics. His work has had an enormous impact on many areas of physical chemistry, especially building up a quantitative bridge between the laws of mechanics and complex macroscopic phenomena"[147] (also listed in §Nobel laureates)
  • Luna Leopold – professor (1972–1986) at UC Berkeley;[148] 1991 National Medal of Science "for his contribution to the hydromechanics of rivers; for influencing the direction and content of physical geography, and for outstanding service to the field of water resources"[149]
  • Edwin McMillan – Professor of Physics (1945–1974);[150] 1990 National Medal of Science "for his scientific achievements including the identification of the first transuranic element (neptunium) and the invention of the phase stability principle incorporated in the synchrotron"[151] (also listed in §Nobel laureates)
  • Jerzy Neyman – Professor of Mathematics (1938–1981);[152] 1968 National Medal of Science "for laying the foundations of modern statistics and devising tests and procedure that have become essential parts of the knowledge of every statistician"[153][154]
  • Wolfgang K.H. Panofsky – professor (1946–1951) of physics at UC Berkeley;[155] 1969 National Medal of Science "for classic experiments probing the elementary particles of matter and for contributions to advancing the means of experimentation in this challenging field"[156]
  • Kenneth Pitzer, PhD 1937 – lecturer and professor (1935–1964 and 1971-1984) and dean (1951–1960) of the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley;[157] 1974 National Medal of Science "for his pioneering application of statistical thermodynamics and spectroscopy to our understanding of the properties of organic and inorganic materials"[158]
  • George C. Pimentel, Ph.D. 1949 – inventor of the chemical laser; Director, Laboratory of Chemical Biodynamics at UC Berkeley; 1983 National Medal of Science "for his varied and ingenious use of infrared spectroscopy to study chemical bonding and molecular dynamics, and for his discovery of the first chemically pumped laser, which has had strong scientific impact as well as practical applications"[159] (also listed in §Wolf Prize)
  • John Prausnitz – professor of chemical engineering at UC Berkeley 2003; National Medal of Science "for his development of engineering-oriented molecular thermodynamics, which provides a scientific method for the design, construction, and operation of chemical manufacturing plants toward economic efficiency, safety, minimum energy consumption, and environmental protection"[160]
  • Stanley B. Prusiner – professor of virology (1984–present) at UC Berkeley;[161] 2009 National Medal of Science "for his discovery of prions, the causative agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and other related neurodegenerative diseases, and his continuing efforts to develop effective methods for detecting and treating prion diseases"[162](also listed in §Nobel laureates)
  • Gabor A. Somorjai, Ph.D. 1960 – professor of chemistry at UC Berkeley (1964–present);[163] 2001 National Medal of Science "for molecular studies of surfaces through the use of single crystals and the development of new techniques that served as foundations of new surface technologies including heterogeneous catalysis"[164](also listed in §Wolf Prize)
  • Julian Schwinger – researcher (1939–1941);[165] 1964 National Medal of Science for his "profound work on the fundamental problems of quantum field theory, and for many contributions to and lucid expositions of nuclear physics and electrodynamics"[166](also listed in List of Nobel laureates affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley)
  • Glenn T. Seaborg, PhD – professor (1945–1979);[167] 1991 National Medal of Science "for his outstanding work as a chemist, scientist and teacher in the field of nuclear chemistry"[168] (also listed in §Nobel laureates)
  • Harry Bolton Seed – Professor of Civil Engineering (1950–1989);[169] 1989 National Medal of Science "for his pioneering contributions to the art and science of civil engineering, to the practice of civil engineering at the frontiers of knowledge, to the general understanding of civil engineering methods at all levels, and to the safety and welfare of people throughout the world"[170]
  • Herbert A. Simon – 1986 National Medal of Science "for his fundamental contributions to our understanding of human problem-solving behavior and decision making, particularly in organizations"[171]
  • Stephen Smale – Professor Emeritus of Mathematics; 1996 National Medal of Science "for his pioneering contributions to mathematics in the fields of differential topology and dynamical systems, and for applications to physics, biology, economics, and the theory of computation"[172] (also listed in §Wolf Prize)
  • G. Ledyard Stebbins – professor (1935–1951);[173] 1979 National Medal of Science "for his outstanding contributions to the synthesis of an evolutionary theory, particularly as it applies to plants"[174]
  • Anne Treisman – Professor (1986–1994) of psychology at UC Berkeley;[175] 2011 National Medal of Science "for a 50-year career of penetrating originality and depth that has led to the understanding of fundamental attentional limits in the human mind and brain"[176]
  • Steven Weinberg – researcher of physics (1959–1966) at UC Berkeley;[177] 1997 National Medal of Science "for his contribution to the identification of cellular oncogenes and their role in cancer, which led to a better understanding of the molecular basis for cancer and its diagnosis and therapy"[178] (also listed in List of Nobel laureates affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley)
  • John Roy Whinnery, BS EE 1937 PhD 1948 – lecturer and professor(1946–2007) and dean (1959–1963) of the EECS Department at UC Berkeley;[179] 1992 National Medal of Science "for his research contributions to microwaves, lasers, and quantum electronics; for his excellence as a teacher and author; and for his extensive services to government and professional organizations"[180]

National Medal of Technology

MacArthur Fellowship

The MacArthur Fellowship is also known as the "Genius Grant"[185] or "Genius Award".[186]

Enrico Fermi Award

  • John H. Lawrence – researcher and professor of medical physics(1935–1970);[246][247] 1983 Enrico Fermi Award "for pioneering work and continuing leadership in nuclear medicine including the first treatment of patients with artificially produced radioactive materials, neutrons, and heavy ion beams, and for his inspiring role in the development of a series of instrumentation techniques for noninvasive radioactive imaging of pathological conditions in man"[248]
  • J. Robert Oppenheimer – professor (1929–1947) of physics at UC Berkeley;[249] 1963 Enrico Fermi Award "for contributions to theoretical physics as a teacher and originator of ideas, and for leadership of the Los Alamos Laboratory and the atomic energy program during critical years"[250]
  • Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky – professor (1946–1951) of physics at UC Berkeley;[155] 1978 Enrico Fermi Award "for his very important contributions to elementary particle physics, his leading role in advancing accelerator technology his positive influence on younger scientists, and the scientific advice he has given generously to the U.S. Government"[251](also listed in §National Medal of Science)
  • Herbert York – researcher and professor (1943–1954) at UC Berkeley;[252] 2000 Enrico Fermi Award "for his contributions to formulating and implementing arms control policy under four Presidents; for his founding direction of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and his leadership in Research and Engineering at the Department of Defense; and for his publications analyzing and explaining these complex issues with clarity and simplicity"[253]

By field

Agriculture

  • Irma Adelman (B.S. 1950, Ph.D. 1955) – Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics

Anthropology

Art and architecture

Astronomy

  • Alex Filippenko – Professor of Astronomy
  • Carl E. Heiles – Professor of Astronomy
  • Raymond Jeanloz – Professor of Astronomy, Professor of Earth and Planetary Science
  • Paul Kalas – Assistant Adjunct Professor of Astronomy
  • James Kirchner (Ph.D. 1990) – Professor of Earth and Planetary Science
  • Ivan R. King - Professor of Astronomy, Chair of the Astronomy Department (1967–1970), Emeritus Professor (1993)
  • Richard Klein – Adjunct Professor of Astronomy
  • Michael Manga – Professor of Earth and Planetary Science
  • Geoffrey Marcy – Professor of Astronomy, discoverer of many extrasolar planets, winner of the Shaw Prize in astronomy in 2005
  • Paul Renne (B.A. 1982, Ph.D 1987) – Director of the Berkeley Geochronology Center and Adjunct Professor of Earth and Planetary Science
  • Adam Riess – Miller Fellow, Professor of Physics, winner of the Shaw Prize in Astronomy in 2006
  • Frank Shu (Ph.D. 1986) – Professor of Astronomy, winner of the Shaw Prize in Astronomy in 2009

Biology

Business

Chemistry

Civil engineering

  • Frank Baron – Professor of Civil Engineering
  • William Garrison – Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • T. Y. Lin (M.S. 1933) – Professor of Civil Engineering; bridgebuilder
  • William J. Oswald (B.E. 1950, M.S. 1951, Ph.D. 1957) – Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Computer science

Economics

Education

Electrical engineering

Ethnic studies

Film studies

Foreign languages and culture

  • Giorgio Agamben – Visiting Chair of Italian Culture, Department of Italian Studies (1994)
  • Robert Alter – Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature
  • Daniel Boyarin – Professor of Near Eastern Studies and Rhetoric
  • Vasudha Dalmia - Emerita professor of Hindi and Modern South Asian Studies; Catherine and William L. Magistretti Distinguished Professorship in South and Southeast Asian Studies, 2001-2012
  • Michel Foucault – Visiting Professor of French (early 1980s)
  • George L. Hart – Professor of Tamil Studies
  • John Lindow – Professor of Scandinavian
  • Yakov Malkiel – Professor of Spanish and Professor of Linguistics, 1943–1983; founded journal Romance Philology
  • James T. Monroe – Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies
  • Johanna Nichols (Ph.D 1973) – Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures
  • David Stronach – Professor of Near Eastern Studies
  • Alan Tansman – Professor of Japanese studies
  • Erico Verissimo – Professor of Brazilian Literature (1943–1945)
  • Frederic Wakeman, Jr. (Ph.D. 1965) – Haas Professor of Asian Studies, Professor of History, President Emeritus of the American Historical Association
  • Viktor Zhivov – Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, 1995-2013

Geology

Geography

History

Industrial engineering and Operations Research

  • Stuart Dreyfus – Professor Emeritus of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
  • Ashok Gadgil (M.A. 1975, Ph.D. 1979) – Adjunct Professor, Energy and Resources Group
  • Ken Goldberg – Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research

Law

Linguistics

Literature and rhetoric

Mathematics

UC Berkeley Department of Mathematics
Prof. Ted Kaczynski, youngest professor, domestic terrorist

Mechanical engineering

Music

Nuclear engineering

  • Donald R. Olander – Professor of Nuclear Engineering and James Fife Chair in Engineering

Philosophy

Physics

Political science

Public health

Psychology

Sociology

See also

References