2016 - 2017 News

Below is a list of our Miller members who have recently received awards or who have been highlighted in the media. Also, the Miller Newsletters is another way to find out what is currently happening in our Miller Community.

  • Paul Alivisatos (Miller Professor 2001 - 2002) has been chosen to serve as the campus’s new executive vice chancellor and provost because of his demonstrated abilities in strategic planning, organization and leadership as well as his deep administrative experience.

  • Jennifer Doudna (Miller Senior Fellow 2017) who co-invented CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, leads the UC Berkeley research team to create a revolutionary platform for using and controlling gene editing for both clinical and biotechnology applications and to investigate whether these tools might someday be capable of disabling bioterrorism threats.

  • Nicolas Mathevon (Visiting Miller Professor 2008) led the study about elephant seals' individual identity. Elephant seals, like humans, use rhythm to respond to other members of their species in the wild.

  • Jeff Townsend (Miller Fellow 2002-2005) collaborated on a National Science Foundation study of five types of fungithat has illuminated a successful new strategy for pinpointing genes responsible for the evolution of certain biological processes.

  • Alejandro Rico-Guevara's (Miller Fellow 2017-2020) current hummingbird research is featured in July's National Geographic magazine.

  • Hitoshi Murayama (Miller Professor 2006) has been named one of the 100 influencers in the world for a project celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.

  • Daniel Rabosky (Miller Fellow 2009 - 2012) was selected to receive the 2018 Henry Russel Lectureship Award that is one of the University of Michigan's highest honors for junior faculty members for his research about the evolutionary drivers responsible for the unequal composition and distribution of Earth's biodiversity.

  • Sheila Patek's (Miller Fellow 2001 - 2004) research about the mechanics of animal motion in mantis shrimp, a small sea creature that looks something like a rainbow-colored lobster with a ball peen hammer attached to its face, featured on Planet Money.

  • Cédric Villani (Visiting Miller Professor 2004), a prize-winning mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 2010, won a seat in 2017 France's parliamentary elections.

  • Frank Sulloway (Miller Fellow 1978 - 1980, Visiting Miller Professor 1999) and Mikel Delgado, UC Berkeley psychologists tracked such attributes as industriousness, neatness, tenacity, cautiousness and self-discipline in reviewing nearly 4,000 animal behavior studies.

  • Michael Manga (Miller Fellow 1994 - 1996, Miller Professor 2008 -2009) and his collaborators at Berkeley Lab’s ALS used an X-ray technique called microdiffraction, which is useful for studying the origins of crystals in volcanic rocks.

  • Robert Coleman (Miller Professor 1995) was one of the 20th century’s most influential number theorists. This special collection has been assembled in his memory.

  • Dan Nicolau Jr. (Miller Fellow 2008 - 2011) leads the research that is a boost for biocomputing, which promises devices that tackle complex tasks and use much less energy than electrical machines.

  • Angel Rubio (Visiting Miller Professor 2014) receives the highest award of the Royal Spanish Society of Physics for his research work in simulation of materials and as the creator of a software tool widely used by hundreds of research groups around the world.

  • Omar Yaghi (Visiting Miller Professor 2009) is the Royal Society of Chemistry Spiers Memorial Award winner for 2017 in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the chemical sciences. The award also recognises the importance of teamwork across the chemical sciences and the abilities of individuals to develop successful collaborations.

  • Robert Zucker (Miller Professor 1999) received the 2017 Sir Bernard Katz Prize awarded annually by the Biophysical Society for excellence in research on exocytosis and endocytosis, for his groundbreaking studies on short-term synaptic plasticity and the role of calcium in triggering transmitter release.

  • Three Miller Members have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences:

    • Judith Cohen (Miller Fellow 1971 - 1973) - in recognition of her distinguished and continuing achievements in Astronomy. Cohen is currently completing a large survey of extremely metal poor stars in the halo of our galaxy.
    • Alexander Levitzki (Visiting Miller Professor 2008) was elected as a new foreign associate member for his research in the field of Chemistry. Levitzki is known for developing specific chemical inhibitors of cancer-induced protein kinases.
    • Gary Parker (Visiting Miller Professor 1993) for his achievements in the field of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geology, in particular, in fluid mechanics, river engineering, sediment transport.

  • Alan Perelson (Visiting Miller Professor 2004) is a recipient of the American Physical Society’s 2017 Max Delbruck Prize in Biological Physics "for profound contributions to theoretical immunology, which bring insight and save lives."

  • Ahmet Yildiz (Miller Professor 2016 - 2017), faculty scientist in Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging, was awarded Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science.

  • Chris Chang (Miller Professor 2011 - 2012) has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his research in bioinorganic chemistry, molecular and chemical biology.

  • Four Miller Members have been awarded 2017 Guggenheim Fellowships:

    • Eric Agol (Visiting Miller Professor 2011) for his achievement and exceptional promise in the field of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Agol uses analytic and numerical modeling and statistics to study transiting planets orbiting other stars.
    • Tom Griffiths (Miller Professor 2017 - 2018) for his research in the filed of Psychology that explores connections between human and machine learning, using ideas from statistics and artificial intelligence to understand how people solve the challenging computational problems they encounter in everyday life.
    • Cin-Ty-Lee (Visiting Miller Professor 2012) for his research in the filed of Earth Science, in particular, for his studies of the compositions of rocks to reconstruct how Earth’s interior, surface, atmosphere and life have evolved through time.
    • Richmond Sarpong (Miller Professor 2017 - 2018) for his achievement in the field of Chemistry that focuses on the synthesis of bioactive complex organic molecules, especially secondary metabolites (aka natural products) that come from marine or terrestrial flora and fauna.

  • Claude-André Faucher-Giguère (Miller Fellow 2010 - 2013) receives the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award from National Science Foundation’s Division of Astronomical Sciences to create the next generation of galaxy formation simulations. He also will develop summer research opportunities for undergraduate students and interactive visualizations for public outreach. The foundation’s most prestigious honor for junior faculty members supports both research and education initiatives.

  • Melissa Wilson Sayres (Miller Fellow 2011 - 2014) has been recognized and appreciated through the “BadAss Women of ASU” campaign, launched by the Women’s Coalition in collaboration with other student groups, students, faculty and staff at Arizona State University for all her efforts to inspire the next generation of scientists, conduct groundbreaking research and leadership.

  • Michael Manga (Miller Fellow 1994 - 1996, Miller Professor 2008 - 2009) is among five UC Berkeley faculty selected as recipients of the 2017 Distinguished Teaching Award, the campus’s most prestigious honor for teaching. The Academic Senate’s Committee members called out for praise Manga’s blend of teaching, research and service.

  • Dustin Rubenstein (Miller Fellow 2006 - 2009) has been bestowed the Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award in recognition of his dedication to maximizing opportunities and successes for undergraduate and graduate students.

  • Christopher Lemon (Miller Fellow 2016 - 2019) is one of the five winners of the 2017 IUPAC-Solvay International Award for Young Chemists, presented for the best Ph.D. theses in the chemical sciences, as described in 1000-word essays.

  • Jeffrey Townsend (Miller Fellow 2002 - 2005) received Yale Cancer Center Translational Research Prize for his paper, "Early and multiple origins of metastatic lineages within primary tumors", published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

  • Mike Ryan (Miller Fellow 1982 - 1984) has been chosen to receive the 2017 Distinguished Animal Behaviorist Award from the Animal Behavior Society. Considered the Society´s most prestigious Lifetime Career Award, it "recognizes an outstanding career in animal behavior."

  • Alex Filippenko (Miller Fellow 1984 -1986, Miller Professor 1996, 2005, Miller Senior Fellow 2017)
    is this year's recipient of the Caltech's Distinguished Alumni Award for his contributions to astronomy and his work to enhance the public's interest in science. The award is the highest honor the Institute bestows upon its graduates.

  • Ken Ribet (Mliller Professor 1990) has been awarded the prestigious Brouwer Medal 2017 for his contributions to number theory, in particular for the groundbreaking work in which he applies methods of algebraic geometry to number theoretical problems. This work later became of decisive importance for the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.

  • Congratulations to 2017 Sloan Research Fellows:

    • Steven Sam (Miller Fellow 2012 - 2015) - for his promising scientific research in Mathematics.
    • Xie Chen (Miller Fellow 2012 - 2014) - for a promising scientific research in Theoretical Physics.

  • Two Miller Members are among the 47 new investigators chosen by the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub to receive up to $1.5 million each over the next five years to conduct cutting-edge biomedical research:

    • Yun Song (Miller Professor Spring 2014) to derive novel mathematical formulas and new analytical techniques for inferring demographic history from population genetic data and for increasing the power of genome-wide natural selection scans.
    • Jill Banfield (Miller Professor 2006 - 2007) - to explore the medical, industrial and ecological significance of newly found microorganisms.

  • Jennifer Doudna (Miller Senior Fellow 2017) has been awarded Japan Prize for invention of CRISPR gene editing.

  • Norman Yao (Miller Fellow 2014 - 2017) unveils new form of matter: time crystals.

  • Paul Alivisatos (Miller Professor 2001 - 2002),
    a chemist and nanotechnology pioneer named Fellow of National Academy of Inventors for outstanding contributions to innovation in areas such innovative discovery and technology, significant impact on society and support and enhancement of innovation.

  • Jiaxing Huang (Miller Fellow 2004 - 2007)
    has been elected a recipient of Humboldt Research Award in recognition of lifetime achievements in materials chemistry, processing and manufacturing.

  • David Milstein (Visiting Miller Professor 2006) has been awarded the prestigious 2016 Eni Award for his research into innovative, efficient and environmentally-compatible catalytic reactions.

  • Gabor Somorjai (Miller Professor 1977 - 1978, Miller Senior Fellow 2009 - 2014) wins prestigious 2016 Richards Medal.

  • Omar Yaghi (Visiting Miller Professor 2009) won Turkish Science Prize in the category of basic and engineering sciences, in recognition of his work in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).

  • Three Former Miller Members among 2016 AAAS Fellows Honored for Advancing Science to Serve Society:

    • Mary Kay Gaillard (Miller Professor 1987 - 1988, 1996) recognized for her scientifically distinguished achievements in particle physics.
    • Jonathan Feng (Miller Fellow 1995 - 1997) honored for his contributions in theoretical particle physics, astroparticle physics, and cosmology.
    • Mark Kirkpatrick (Miller Fellow 1983 -1985, Visiting Miller Professor 2009) recognized for his scientific achievements in biological sciences.

  • Congratulations to 2016-2017 Bakar Fellows:

    • Kathy Collins (Miller Professor 2011) - for her research "New Reverse Transcriptase Technologies: Tools for Diagnosis and Health Status."
    • Jeffrey Long (Miller Professor 2011) - for scientific research "Development of Solid Adsorbents for Low-Cost Carbon Capture: Chemical Cooperativity in Action."

  • Two Early Career Awards To Thi (Kelly) Nguyen (Miller Fellow 2016 - 2019):

  • Three Miller Members Share $1.7 Million from the Federal Government’s BRAIN Initiative:

    • Marla Feller (Miller Fellow 1994 - 1996) - to develop a high-speed volumetric multiphoton microscope for the study of developing neural circuits in the retina.
    • Mikhail Shapiro (Miller Fellow 2011 - 2013) - to study molecular functional ultrasound for non-invasive imaging and image-guided recording and modulation of neural activity.
    • Ehud Isacoff (Miller Professor 2013) - to develop novel tools for cell-specific imaging of functional connectivity and circuit operations.

  • Marvin Cohen (Miller Professor 1969 - 1970, 1976 - 1977, 1988)
    to receive 2017 Franklin Medal "for making possible atomic-scale calculations of the properties of materials so detailed that new materials and their mechanical, thermal, electrical and optical properties can be predicted in agreement with experiments."

  • Marla Feller (Miller Fellow 1994 - 1996)
    shares $1.7 million from the federal government’s BRAIN initiative to develop a high-speed volumetric multiphoton microscope for the study of developing neural circuits in the retina.

  • Bin Yu (Miller Professor 2004, 2016 - 2017) was featured on the Women in Machine Learning website.

  • Two Miller Fellows Awarded the 2016 Packard Fellowships in Science and Engineering:

    • Greg Bowman (Miller Fellow 2011 - 2014) - for developing computer algorithms for building maps of the different shapes a protein adopts and exploits insights from these models to re-engineer proteins.
    • Mikhail Shapiro (Miller Fellow 2011 - 2013) - for developing a technology that could facilitate the study of cellular function in living animals and aid the development of cellular diagnostics and therapies.

  • Alejandro Rico Guevara (Incoming Miller Fellow 2017 - 2020)
    is featured among other scientists in a new PBS documentary, Super Hummingbirds.

  • Randy Schekman (Miller Senior Fellow 2008 - 2013)
    was featured in the California Magazine, "Nobelist Randy Schekman Is Not Resting on His Laurels."

  • Nicolas Mathevon (Visiting Miller Professor 2008)
    was named Senior Member of the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF) for the period 2016- 2021. Research by Nicolas Mathevon is about acoustic communication in vertebrates and understanding of the links between social constraints and changing communication process.

  • Erick Matsen (Miller Fellow 2007 - 2010)
    is one of 2016 inaugural crop of Faculty Scholars, early-career scientists who have great potential to make unique contributions to their field, announced by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

  • Sarah Keller (Somorjai Visiting Miller Professor 2016)
    will receive the 2017 Avanti Award from the Biophysical Society for "outstanding contributions to our understanding of lipid biophysics".

  • Maryam Modjaz (Miller Fellow 2007 - 2010)
    was recently featured in an Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Launch ad. She confirms that all the equations shown on the board are accurate.

  • Alejandro Rico Guevara (Incoming Miller Fellow 2017 - 2020)
    is a winner of the National Awards Alejandro Ángel Escobar in Sciences and Solidarity 2016 for his research in morphology and function of the drinking apparatus in hummingbirds.

  • Richard Henderson (Visiting Miller Professor 1993)
    is awarded the Copley Medal 2016 in recognition of his fundamental and revolutionary contributions to the development of electron microscopy of biological materials, enabling their atomic structures to be deduced.

  • Gibor Basri (Miller Professor 1997 - 1998) wins Sagan Prize. Astronomer honored for contributions to his field.

  • Congratulations to the 2017 American Chemical Society (ACS) National Award Recipients:

    • Stephen Leone (Visiting Miller Professor 1990, Miller Professor 2010, Advisory Board Member 2015 - Current) has received the ACS Ahmed Zewail Award in Ultrafast Science and Technology.
    • John E. Bercaw (Visiting Miller Professor 1990) - Gabor A. Somorjai Award for Creative Research in Catalysis, sponsored by the Gabor A. & Judith K. Somorjai Endowment Fund
    • Bruce J. Berne (Visiting Miller Professor 1994) - Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry, sponsored by DuPont.
    • John I. Brauman (Advisory Board Member 1993 - 1999) - Charles Lathrop Parsons Award, sponsored by ACS.
    • Murugappan Muthukumar (Visiting Miller Professor 1999) - ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry, sponsored by ExxonMobil Chemical.
    • William B. Tolman (Visiting Miller Professor 1997) - ACS Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry, sponsored by Strem Chemicals.