Content will be added on this page as alumni submit updates, so check back periodically! If you have an update, please let us know. Last update: 12/08/2023
1960s
Karen Timberlake (B.S. 1962) and her spouse Bill Timberlake were presented the 2023 Alumni Legacy Award from the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at their departmental awards ceremony on May 31, 2023.
1970s
Deborah Illman (B.S. 1976) was elected as a 2022 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Alan Lane (B.S. 1977) retired in 2016 after 30 years at the University of Alabama as a professor of chemical engineering. Now Alan records and performs music in dives across the south (DoobieDoghouseWilson.com) and renovates century old houses. Alan still teaches courses, when needed (last year it was reactor design and unit operations lab). He also published "Separation Process Essentials" with CRC Press in 2019 and is currently writing a 2nd edition. Pictured below are Alan's band of professors, PhD'Licious, and Alan playing guitar in an Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day. (November 2023)
Christopher A. Pohl (B.S. 1973) was presented the ACS Award in Chromatography, sponsored by MilliporeSigma, at the awards ceremony at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Indianapolis on March 28, 2023.
1980s
Loren Williams (B.S. 1980) was elected as a 2022 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and spent the fall of 2023 teaching biochemistry in Barcelona. (December 2023)
1990s
Mirna Jarosz (B.S. 1999) has been appointed head of product strategy for Ultima Genomics. Prior to joining Ultima, Jarosz served as general manager for the NGS business at Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT). Jarosz earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Washington.
Marya Lieberman (Ph.D. 1994), a professor at the University of Notre Dame, was featured as a "Mover and Shaker" by C&EN on April 30, 2023 for her group's development of multilane test cards called paper analytical devices (PADs) and how her group has partnered with harm reduction organizations and other pharmaceutical authorities to identify bad medications and analyze street drugs.
2000s
Jasmine Bryant (Ph.D. 2002), who was formerly a member of the UW Deportment of Chemistry teaching faculty, is now the Director of the Caltech Center for Teaching, Learning, & Outreach (CTLO). In her new role, she works with faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows to incorporate best-practices into their teaching. The CTLO also partners with local K-12 schools to bring Caltech students and scientists into classrooms as well as bring local students to campus for research experiences. (November 2023)
Matthew Philpott (Ph.D. 2000) was appointed chief marketing and sales officer of NUBURU, Inc., a leading innovator in high-power and high-brightness industrial blue laser technology. Matthew has 20 years of laser industry experience from Coherent Corp. where he was most recently the director of Global Business Development. At Coherent, Matthew led a multinational electric vehicle welding team, taking Coherent from a new entrant to being a globally recognized top supplier for battery and EV production. “As NUBURU’s blue lasers offer precision, speed, near defect-free and a multi-emitter redundancy that is unmatched by current state of the art solutions, the timing is perfect for the blue solution from NUBURU. I could not be more honored to join NUBURU’s executive team at such a pivotal time."
Priti Phukan (Ph.D. 2007) has been promoted to partner of Umberg/Zipser LLP (U/Z), a premier business litigation and intellectual property law firm located in Irvine, California. As a member of the Intellectual Property Practice Group, Priti's expertise in IP law, patent prosecution, and counseling, has helped clients build and develop compelling and complex IP portfolios. Priti has been recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Star for three consecutive years.
Heather Price (Ph.D. 2004) teaches general chemistry and general, organic and biological chemistry and leads the Climate Justice Across the Curriculum project at North Seattle College. After earning her PhD in chemistry with Daniel Jaffe, Heather conducted postdoctoral research with the UW Program on Climate Change. Her current National Science Foundation research project (C-JUSTICE) focuses on improving undergraduate STEM education (NSF-IUSE) through the integration of climate justice, equity, and civic engagement across the college STEM curriculum. Starting this year (2023), thanks to legislative support and funding from the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), Heather is helping develop and lead the training of faculty at 17 Community and Technical colleges in the state of Washington. The faculty participants are developing climate justice integrated lessons for their own STEM and non-STEM classes, and in spring 2023 they will team-lead their own Climate Justice Across the Curriculum workshops for faculty at their respective institutions. From 2021-22, Heather led climate justice workshops at the UW, helping 23 professors in the College of the Environment to incorporate climate justice and civic engagements into their courses.
2010s
Ruth Son (B.S., B.A. 2017), completed the Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis in 2023. Ruth is currently a lecturer in organic chemistry at Yale University. (November 2023)
2020s
Ricardo A. V. Caporale (M.S. 2023), US Navy lieutenant and assistant professor of naval science, received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for successful completion of his tour as an assistant professor of naval science at the UW.
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