On June 15, the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry hosted this year’s commencement ceremony to celebrate the graduating class of 2024.
The ceremony, held in Drake Stadium, began with the welcome address by Department Chair, Professor Alex Spokoyny. Dean Miguel García-Garibay then presented the UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry 2024 Alumni Award to Julia L. Sabin ’83, Vice President of Government Relations at The J.M. Smucker Company, who delivered an inspiring commencement address.
Links to the full video of the event and Sabin’s commencement address can be found here. Select photos from the event can be viewed below.
At the ceremony, 37 of our students received Ph.D. degrees, 16 students received Master of Applied Chemical Sciences degrees, five Departmental Scholars received Master of Science degrees, and 306 students received bachelor’s degrees. Congratulations to the Class of 2024!
The following graduate and undergraduate award recipients were also recognized for their achievements at the ceremony. We are very grateful to our generous donors who made these awards possible!
In-depth articles about the graduate and undergraduate student commencement awards, with photos of the recipients, will be posted soon. Congratulations to all the recipients!
GRADUATE STUDENT COMMENCEMENT AWARDS
Each year we recognize our graduate students for their accomplishments in research and teaching, two of the primary missions of our university. An article with details about the awards and photos of the recipients can be viewed here.
Congratulations to the following recipients!
Charles J. Pederson Dissertation Award
Lisa Boatner (Backus group), Yi Chen (Liu group), Santiago Vargas (Alexandrova group)
Chemists Association Dissertation Award
Claire Dickerson (Alexandrova group), Joseph Garcia (Sletten group), Kenneth Mei (Schwartz group), Katie White (P. Weiss group)
Daniel E. Atkinson and Charles A. West Dissertation Award
Troy Lowe (S. Clarke group)
Donald J. Cram Dissertation Award
Ana Bulger (Garg group)
Dr. Yuh Guo Pan Dissertation Award
Matthew McVeigh (Garg group)
Evelyn Pan Dissertation Award
Austin Ready (Spokoyny group), Jingyu Wang (Liu group), Zisheng Zhang (Alexandrova group)
George Gregory Dissertation Award
Quynh Duong (Schwartz group), Zerina Mehmedović (Schwartz group)
Majeti-Alapati Dissertation Award
Nikolas Burton (Backus group), Laura Wonilowicz (Garg group)
Roberts A. Smith Dissertation Award
Alexa Noelle Novales (C. Clarke group)
Saul Winstein Dissertation Award
Billy Treacy (Houk group)
SG Dissertation Award
Brandon Jolly (Liu group)
Thomas L. and Ruth F. Jacobs Dissertation Award
Helen Cumberbatch (Tolbert group), Aamir Shah (Duan group)
Upjohn Graduate Dissertation Award
Yuto Katsuyama (Kaner group), Boyu Zhao (Loo group)
UNDERGRADUATE COMMENCEMENT AWARDS
Each year we recognize our undergraduate students for their accomplishments in research and teaching, two of the primary missions of our university. An article with details about the awards and photos of the recipients can be viewed here.
Congratulations to the following recipients!
ACS Award for Outstanding Senior in Biochemistry or Chemical Biology
Kyle Anderson (C. Clarke group)
ACS Award for Outstanding Senior in Inorganic Chemistry
Michael Pung (Liu group)
ACS Award for Outstanding Senior in Organic Chemistry
Ruthy Shin (Harran group)
ACS Award for Outstanding Senior in Physical Chemistry
Lauren Vuong (P. Weiss group)
American Institute of Chemists Commencement Award
Morgan Gee (Yeates group)
Arthur Furst Commencement Award
John “Jack” Cokas (Alexandrova group)
Clarence Ernest Gresser Commencement Prize
Etoile (Annie) Wilson
Daniel E. Atkinson and Charles A. West Commencement Prize in Metabolic Biochemistry
Bella Wachter (S. Clarke group)
Don C. Atkins Commencement Prize
Brock Hosier (Maynard group)
Evelyn Pan Commencement Prize
Mark Munteanu (Kaner group), Songrong “Jeff” Qu (Rodriguez group), Mabel Song (Clubb group)
Geissman Commencement Award
Angel Lima Hernandez (Tolbert group), Linnea Shu (Tolbert group), Michael Sun (Schmitt group)
Ramsey Commencement Award
Steven Pham (Walker group), Rafael Valle (Schmitt group), Emma Villinski (Tolbert group)
Dr. Ravi and Aparna Bikkina Family Commencement Award
Akash Jain (C. Clarke group)
Raymond and Dorothy Wilson Commencement Award for Excellence in Academics
Tiffany Xiu Lien, Yidou Long, Silvi Rose Lybbert, Harrison Sihan Wang
Robert E. Biskowski Chemistry Commencement Prize
Leo Morag (Diaconescu group)
RSC Certificate of Undergraduate Excellence Commencement Award
Maya Vasisht (Diaconescu group)
Susan Elizabeth Baumgarten Award for Excellence in Science Education
Meena Khan, Gabriel Nitro, Zeriel Wong, Bonnie Yuan
The Dolores Cannon Southam Commencement Award
Enrico Arambulo (Koehler), Rhett Farmer (Koehler group), Zachary Lamm (Schmitt group), Rachel Ma (P. Weiss group)
The Maria Rebecca and Maureen Bellettini Commencement Award
Katherine Bogue (Quinlan group), Laura Deist (Schmitt group), Nika Gladkov (Sletten group), Isabella Mochado (Liu group), Kimberly Vasquez (Diaconescu group), Ashley Vergara Mendez (Sletten group).
The Department is extremely grateful to our generous donors and alumni whose support makes these many award programs possible.
To learn how to contribute to our student departmental award funds or to establish a new named award or fellowship, please contact the Chair’s office, chair@chem.ucla.edu, (310) 825-3958. Your gift of any size will directly impact one of our world-class students and aspiring scientists!
Photos by Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penny@chem.ucla.edu.
