Thanks to our generous donors, 21 undergraduate students will conduct research in our faculty labs this year as summer research fellows.
The summer research experience can be one of the most meaningful parts of an undergraduate education. It enables students to pursue science research rather than having to accept a summer job in an unrelated field and, for many students, their lab research experience is a real game-changer – many who thought they were headed to pharmacy, medical, or dental school, realize how exciting research is, and begin to consider research as a career.
Congratulations to the following summer fellowship recipients!
ALUMNI UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SUMMER FELLOWSHIP
These fellowships were established in 1997 by a pledge from the late Prof. Henry Bruman (’35 Chemistry), who was a professor emeritus of geography at UCLA, followed by donations from other alumni, including a major donation from alumnus Dr. Robert Boschan and his wife Bobbie Boschan. Susan Stein has continued to support the fund each year in memory of her late husband, Robert Stein.
Elaine Chao
(Heather Maynard group)
ARTHUR FURST SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
This annual award honors chemistry or biochemistry majors who have done outstanding laboratory research projects.
Emma Bradley (Ohyun Kwon group),
Varit Chantranuwathana
(Paula Diaconescu group), and
Lawrence Zhang
(Daniel Neuhauser group).
BOYER SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
These fellowships were established in 2018 by Prof. Richard Cross (Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York) to honor of his former postdoctoral mentor Nobel Laureate Professor Paul D. Boyer.
Tim Bondoc
(Steve Clarke group),
Tracie Luu
(William Gelbart group),
Audrey Nashner
(Catherine Clarke group), and
Thomas Qu
(Richard Kaner group).
CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY DONORS SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
These fellowships are made possible by the friends and alumni of the department whose donations were pooled to provide support for undergraduate students to conduct summer research.
Kyle Bui (Ellen Sletten group)
DANIEL KIVELSON UNDERGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
The family of UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry professor Dr. Daniel Kivelson (1929-2003) established these fellowships in his honor so that his legacy would live on and help educate young scientists.
Laurie Tan (Justin Caram group)
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE) SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
These fellowships were established in 2019 with funds provided by the UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics to support undergraduate students conducting summer research at UCLA within the broad science missions of the U.S. Department of Energy and its Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program.
Kaylie Bair
(Todd Yeates group) and Shannon Zhuang (Juli Feigon group).
DR. RAVI AND APARNA BIKKINA FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP
This scholarship was established in 2017 by Ravi ’94 and Aparna Bikkina to support scholarships for chemistry and biochemistry students.
Ovie Soman
(Alexander Spokoyny group)
MAX SHAW DUNN SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
These fellowships honor the memory of Professor Max Shaw Dunn, UCLA’s first biochemistry faculty member, who joined the Southern Branch of the University of California in 1922. He was a strong and positive force in the development of UCLA until his retirement in 1962.
Ashton Davis
(Paula Diaconescu),
Ashley Holtz
(Steve Clarke group), and
Akash Jain
(Catherine Clarke).
THE ROBERT E. BISKOWSKI CHEMISTRY SCHOLARSHIP
Established in 2019 by the Estate of Geraldine Biskowski, this award is presented annually to 3.5 GPA undergraduates majoring in chemistry.
Jason Zhu (Richard Kaner group)
SUSAN ELIZABETH BAUMGARTEN SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
Susan Baumgarten (B.S.’ 73, M.S.’ 76, M.B.A. ’79) established this fellowship in 2019 to support chemistry and biochemistry undergraduate students.
Gregory Gorobets (Alexander Spokoyny group) and Alana Rose Meyer (Miguel García-Garibay Group).
WHITCOME SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
This fellowship honors the late Dr. Philip Whitcome who received his Ph.D. in 1974 from UCLA and went on to a successful career in the biotechnology industry.
William Sander (Al Courey group) and Jiayuan (Menna) Sun (Margot Quinlan group)
To contribute to the Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship Program or establish a new named fellowship, please contact Brooke Sanders, Executive Director of Development, Physical Sciences, at bsanders@support.ucla.edu or 310-794-9045. Your gift of any size will directly impact one of our world-class students and aspiring scientists!
Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penny@chem.ucla.edu.