On June 9, 2026, alumnus Dr. Luca McDermott Catena (Ph.D. ’25, Garg group), currently a postdoctoral scholar with Professor Richmond Sarpong at the University of California, Berkeley, was presented with the Norma Stoddart Award for Exemplary Citizenship and Excellence in Graduate Research.
Established in 2004, the Norma Stoddart Prize honors graduate students who have performed outstanding science, service, and humanity – the same qualities that Norma Stoddart – the wife of Nobel Laureate Fraser Stoddart – brought to UCLA.
McDermott Catena was selected by a committee of current graduate students to receive the 2026 prize based on his extraordinary research involving strained alkenes and his immense contributions to teaching, service, and outreach during his time at UCLA. The nomination package for McDermott Catena highlighted his groundbreaking research pertaining to anti-Bredt olefins, his teaching of a course on drug discovery and catalysis (Chem 101), his service to the Organization for Cultural Diversity in the Sciences, and his unique service contributions to the UCLA Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
At the award event, Professor Ken Houk first spoke about the Stoddarts and their extraordinary lives and careers. Professor Michael Jung followed with remarks about Norma Stoddart and her wonderful personality and generosity. The 2026 awardee was then introduced by his former thesis advisor, Professor Neil Garg, who described McDermott Catena as a “gem” and “one of the most exciting and enthusiastic young scientists” he has had the pleasure of working with throughout his career.
After McDermott Catena’s lecture, Ken Houk and Neil Garg presented McDermott Catena with the 2026 Norma Stoddart Award. McDermott Catena’s partner, Dr. Susan Ju, also a UCLA alum, attended the event, which was held in the department’s Dongwon Yoo Seminar & Conference Hall in the Mani L. Bhaumik Collaboratory in Young Hall.
Select photos can be viewed below and a photo gallery can be viewed here.
About Dr. Luca McDermott Catena
Luca was born and raised in San Francisco, California. Although he spent most of his time in the United States, he also spent part of the year attending school in Argentina, where he developed a love for steak and yerba mate. He completed his undergraduate studies in biochemistry at Tufts University, where he conducted research with Professor Clay Bennett on the total synthesis of carbohydrate-containing antibiotic natural products.
Missing California, Luca returned to Los Angeles for his graduate studies with Professor Neil Garg. In the Garg Lab, Luca explored a range of synthetic chemistry topics, from complex molecule synthesis to material characterization and safety studies. The first half of his graduate studies focused on the total synthesis of the Platonic hydrocarbon dodecahedrane, while the second half centered on the synthesis of geometrically distorted alkenes, which was the focus of his 2026 Norma Stoddart Award Lecture.
After earning his Ph.D. at UCLA in 2025, Luca returned to the Bay Area for his postdoctoral studies with Professor Richmond Sarpong at UC Berkeley. In the Sarpong group, Luca is leveraging skeletal rearrangements to synthesize bioactive diterpenoid natural products.
About the Norma Stoddart Award for Exemplary Citizenship and Excellence in Graduate Research
Established in 2004, the award is open to all current and recently graduated research students and fellows in the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. Selections are made by a committee of graduate students within the department. Recipients are chosen for their outstanding science, service, and humanity – the same qualities that Norma brought to UCLA.
Starting in 2012, Stoddart returned to UCLA each year (except during the COVID-19 pandemic) to present the prize at the Norma Stoddart Prize lecture. Sadly, Stoddart passed away at the age of 82 on December 30, 2024. Fortunately, before his passing, Stoddart was able to visit UCLA one last time in April 2024 to present the prize at the lecture. Stoddart is pictured at right with daughter Fiona McCubbin, who accompanied him on his 2024 visit.
Previous Stoddart Prize recipients and their position that immediately followed their times at UCLA:
2024 – Dr. Ashley Shin, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
2023 – Prof. Marco Messina, University of Delaware
2019 – Dr. Janice Lin, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research
2018 – Dr. Nako Nakatsuka, ETH Zürich
2017 – Dr. Christian Beren, Colorado School of Mines
2017 – Dr. Liana Hie, Yale
2016 – Dr. Steven Lopez, Harvard
2015 – Dr. Alexander Patananan, Amgen
2015 – Prof. Jessica Wang, UC Merced
2014 – Prof. Jessica R. Kramer, University of Utah
2013 – Dr. Sarah M. Bronner, Maze Therapeutics
2012 – Dr. Gregory B. Kuzmanich, Honeywell UOP
The prize was not awarded in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or in 2025.
Photos and article by Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penjen@g.ucla.edu.
