Thanks to our generous donors, 52 talented undergraduates received departmental awards this year in recognition of their accomplishments in research and in academics.
The 2024 Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Departmental Awards were presented to our students at our annual departmental awards ceremony on May 21, 2024. Congratulations to all the recipients listed below!
We are incredibly grateful to our donors whose generous gifts make these awards possible.
DANIEL E. ATKINSON AND CHARLES A. WEST PRIZE IN METABOLIC BIOCHEMISTRY
This award is named in honor of the second and third biochemists on the UCLA faculty, who taught generations of students over their forty-year careers and were largely responsible for the development of biochemistry within the department.

Kassandra Javier
THE ROBERT E. BISKOWSKI CHEMISTRY SCHOLARSHIP
This scholarship was established in 2019 by the Estate of Geraldine Biskowski.

Sangeeta Kelkar
ETHEL TERRY MCCOY AWARD
These academic awards honor chemists Dr. Ethel Terry McCoy and her husband Dr. Herbert Newby McCoy who had successful careers at the University of Chicago and in industry.

Isabella Almaraz, Daphne Chan, Reena Choi, Gretchen Fan, Connie Gao, Minnie Griffin, Esther Kim, Jimin Kim, Felisha Kuo, Romane Le Gall, Audrey Lee, Asta Li, Jiayuan Li, Kathryn Mcgovern, Sharlotta Mozes, Francesca Parodi, Ashley Paxton, Shelby Rickards, Margaret Sasere, Diya Singhal, Skylar Whitley, and Jessica Zhang. Samantha Frehner, Ananya Pradhan, Samah Qadeer, Sarah Staderman, and Ashley Sudjono (not pictured)
GOLD FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP
Thanks to the continued generosity of the Dr. Marvin and Sophye Gold Family Foundation of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation.

Bijan Ahrablou, Maribelle Gonzalvo, Mia Vuong, and Alexandra Yakimova
HOSMER STONE AWARD
This academic award was established in 1970 to honor the late Professor Hosmer Stone, one of the department’s first faculty members.

Jake Ampong, Cinyoung Huang, Rebecca Lee, Anthony Makhlouf, Sydney Nguyen, Sophie Pan, and Marlo Taylor
JEAN DREYFUS BOISSEVAIN UNDERGRADUATE AWARD
Thanks to the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, this academic award recognizes excellence in chemistry.

Lily Neff
LEONARD GREINER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
This award was established by family and friends in 2007 to honor the memory of alumnus Dr. Leonard Greiner ’43, a successful chemist who worked for many years to develop technical solutions to global warming.

Max Ptacek
LORRAINE AND MASUO TOJI UNDERGRADUATE AWARD
These awards were established in 2019 thanks to a $1 million gift from the estate of Lorraine and Masuo Toji.

Daniel Fillet, Camille Kutter, and Skylar Whitley
LORRAINE AND MASUO TOJI UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP FOR EXCELLENCE IN CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY
These awards were established in 2019 thanks to a $1 million gift from the estate of Lorraine and Masuo Toji.

Hannah Liu and Blake Andrew Zulanas. Kyle Kenji-Thanh Nagasawa (not pictured)
MAX SHAW DUNN UNDERGRADUATE AWARD
This award honors 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.

James Heeter, Josh Kim, Ashley Michel, and Elizabeth Oroudjeva. Bill Wang (not pictured).
The Department is extremely grateful to our generous donors and alumni whose support makes these many fellowship and 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!
Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penny@chem.ucla.edu.