UC Berkeley is a school renowned for its #1 spot as a public university. This university is recognized as an extraordinary place for individuals to start their STEM careers, or conduct research with the help of their incredible funding and notable mentors. UC Berkeley grew to fame during the 1910’s with their second dean, Gilbert Newton Lewis, who paved the way for an expansion of studies, faculty, degrees, and buildings for the university. Due to the expansion of UC Berkeley following World War II they had an advantage on other neighboring universities with research opportunities and had a soaring number of student enrollments.
Following the success of UC Berkeley growing throughout the 20th century, they discovered ten elements of the periodic table in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. These are ten out of the 118 elements which is an insane amount of discoveries for one university.
Throughout the race of element discovery, UC Berkeley was directly competing with Russia, who also wanted their recognition for findings in the chemical research scene. Funding for UC Berkeley aided scientists on their race to success during the 20th century or more specifically 1940s.
No doubt, these discoveries really developed the prestige and status of UC Berkeley throughout the 20th century especially with the national science scene. UC Berkeley has paved the way for more technological advancements in their institution due to their great success with research. Currently UC Berkeley is recognized as one of the top 5 public universities in which one can conduct scientific research, and as well pursue STEM Careers. UC Berkeley is one of the universities which highly contributes to Nobel Peace Prize winners as well.
UC Berkeley’s current associations in chemistry include Green Chemistry, Synthetic Biology, and eChem. These types of programs push students to their limits, and expand collaboration with professors and research experience for their students. Go Bears!
Works Cited
Oliver, William Letts. “Berkeley Chemistry: 1868 to the Present.” College of Chemistry, https://chemistry.berkeley.edu/berkeley-chemistry-1868-to-present. Accessed 23 May 2024.
Thompson, Stanley. “Berkelium (Bk) – Element Information, Uses, Properties of Berkelium.” BYJU’S, https://byjus.com/chemistry/berkelium/. Accessed 23 May 2024.
About the author
My name is Marian Gomez, and I am a rising senior in Arizona! I am interested in STEM because of my love for chemistry, and my fascination with chemistry and nuclear research!
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