Constructed nearly 25 years ago, the lower division organic laboratories, used for Chem 30BL & Chem 30CL classes, were in desperate need of renovation.  The renovation, which will provide the students in the laboratory classes with a much more modern educational experience, is now underway and completion is expected in time for the Spring 2017 […]

Photos from the 2016 Seaborg Symposium & Medal Award Dinner honoring Professor Michael Jung are now available for viewing. The full photo gallery is available here. On Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016, Prof. Michael Jung, UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was honored by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry with the 2016 Glenn T. Seaborg […]

On Friday, November 18, 2016, the UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry held its third annual Outreach and Diversity Day. The purpose of Diversity Day is to invite area undergraduates to our department and get a first-hand experience of our facilities and faculty; hopefully yielding applications to our graduate programs. Twenty prospective graduate students from […]

We are sad to report that Jean “Jeanie” Turner Trueblood passed away peacefully on Monday, November 28, 2016 at the age of 97. Jeanie was an active member of the UCLA community for decades.  She was married to UCLA chemistry professor Dr. Kenneth Nyitray Trueblood (right) until his death in 1998. Ken was a leading […]

Alumnus Cornelius “Corny” Steelink, PhD’56 (Geissman), emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Arizona (UA), died on November 12, 2016. Steelink was an internationally recognized expert on soil humic acid, and he started the toxicology degree program at the University of Arizona in 1973.  He was educated in Southern California, beginning with his undergraduate […]

Altering the form of platinum nanoscale wires could reduce the amount of precious metal used in fuel cells leading to lower the costs. In addition to Duan and Li, graduate student Zhaoyang Lin was also a co-author on the paper titled “Ultrafine jagged platinum nanowires enable ultrahigh mass activity for the oxygen reduction reaction”, which was […]

A synthetic version of a rare natural toxin appears to hold promise for treating cancer while minimizing the harmful side effects of chemotherapy drugs. Harran’s chemistry efforts and close collaboration with specialists from several fields over the past 15 years has revealed unique aspects of how DZ-2384 functions in animals.  In 2015, Dr. Hui Ding, […]

John (Jack) Roberts (BA ’41, PhD ’44, Seaborg medalist ‘91) died on October 29, 2016, of complications following a stroke. Roberts was one of the most influential chemists of the last 75 years, and his scientific education started at UCLA. A native of Los Angeles, Roberts was born on June 8, 1918. He graduated from Los […]