Each year at commencement, we recognize our graduate, master’s, and undergraduate students for their accomplishments in academics and research.
The following 2025 Chemistry & Biochemistry Commencement Awards were presented to our students at the department’s annual commencement ceremony. Congratulations to all the recipients!
We are incredibly grateful to our donors, whose generous gifts make these awards possible!
GRADUATE STUDENT COMMENCEMENT AWARDS
Herbert Newby McCoy Commencement Awards
Kelsey Feustel (C. Clarke group), Andrew Goring (Clubb/Loo groups), Michael Guile (C. Clarke group), Spencer Hamilton (Kaner/Tolbert groups), Kaitlin Hartung (Sletten group), Susan Ju (Tolbert group), Robert Lavroff (Alexandrova group), Giang (Jessie) Le (Loo group), Barry (Yangtao) Li (Neuhauser/Caram groups), Shiyun Lin (Diaconescu group), Luca McDermott Catena (Garg group), Casey Morrison (Deming group), Yessica Nelson (Spokoyny group), Eric Pang (S. Clarke/Rodriguez groups), Heting Pu (Duan/Huang groups), Hootan Roshandel (Diaconescu group), Arismel Tena Meza (Garg group), Niko Vlahakis (Rodriguez group), Sining (Cindy) Wang (C. Clarke/S. Clarke groups), Sibo Wang (Duan/Huang groups), Quintashia Wilson (Sletten group), Dominick Witkowski (Garg group), and Yin-Pok Wong (Diaconescu group).
MASTER OF APPLIED CHEMICAL SCIENCES (MACS) AWARDS
Excellence in Research Award
Katherine Zhang (Torres group), Abhi Bagchi (Nava group), and Haemin Oh (Maher El-Kady/Kaner group).
Outstanding Capstone Research Award
Riddhi Kaley (Srivastava group), Reanne Coutinho (Spokoyny group), Qijia Zhou (Diaconescu group), and Min Kyu Lee (Kaner group).
UNDERGRADUATE COMMENCEMENT AWARDS
ACS Award for Outstanding Senior in Inorganic Chemistry
Miguel Medina Lopez (Nava group).
ACS Award for Outstanding Senior in Organic Chemistry
Ashley Michel (Harran group).
ACS Award for Outstanding Senior in Physical Chemistry
Tim Duong (Neuhauser/Caram groups).
Daniel E. Atkinson and Charles A. West Commencement Prize
This award honors Professors Daniel Atkinson and Charles West for their significant contributions to biochemistry at UCLA, their valued mentorship, and their impact on the research community and education.
Meixuan “Coco” Li (Feigon group) not pictured.
Dolores Cannon Southam Commencement Award
This award is named in memory of Dolores Cannon Southam, who, as a UCLA undergraduate, worked for Professor Chris Foote. In honor of Dolores, this award is given in recognition of outstanding achievement in research.
Joelle Darrouj (Backus group).
Gold Family Commencement Prize
Thanks to the continued generosity of the Dr. Marvin and Sophye Gold Family Foundation of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation.
Anna Sargsyan (Schmitt group).
Howard Reiss Commencement Award
This award honors accomplished physical chemist and theorist Professor Emeritus Howard Reiss (1922-2015).
Nilya Moushiabad (Barber group).
James Blaine Ramsey Commencement Prizes
These awards honor Professor Emeritus James Blaine Ramsey (1892-1965) and are awarded to outstanding undergraduate students in the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.
Lizandro Chan Camaal (Divakaruni group), Celeste Elkort (Kaner group), and Daniel Torres Pomares (Spokoyny group). Not pictured: Brandon Van.
Leonard Greiner Commencement Award
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.
Hiran Jayasekara (Alexandrova group).
Maria Rebecca and Maureen Bellettini Commencement Award
Established in 2019 by the Bellettini family, this award recognizes outstanding undergraduate students studying chemistry in the department.
Giselle Brown (Doyle group), Megan Chen (Clubb group), Helen Elmer (Gelbart group), and Suzy Matinyan (Kaner group).
Max Shaw Dunn Commencement 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.
Peter Fernandez (Koehler group) and Frederick Alex Meckes (Lawson group).
Raymond and Dorothy Wilson Commencement Award
These awards were established by alumnus Raymond A. Wilson (’43) and his wife Dorothy as a tribute to the UCLA chemistry professors who, more than seventy years ago, had such a profound impact on Raymond when he was a bright young chemistry student.
Jongha Choi (Tolbert group), Maximilian Floridia (P. Weiss group), and Gregory Kislik (Pellegrini group).
Susan Elizabeth Baumgarten Commencement Award for Excellence in Science Education
Susan Baumgarten (B.S.’ 73, M.S.’ 76, M.B.A. ’79) established this award in 2019 to support chemistry and biochemistry undergraduate students.
Joshua Baer, Connie Karanovic, and Ana Luiza Sardenberg (Srivastava group).
The Department is extremely grateful to our generous donors and alumni, whose support makes these many award programs possible.
To contribute to our student departmental award funds or to establish a new named award or fellowship, please contact the Chair’s office, cbchair@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, penjen@g.ucla.edu.
