In the Fall 2005 issue (pp. 22-23), we presented a group of Berkeley alumni who shared at least two characteristics: 1) they had earned one or more graduate degrees at this campus, and 2) they each had won a Nobel Prize.

Here’s another cluster, again with graduate work at Berkeley in common, plus at least one other factor: all have been honored for their good works
by the California Alumni Association, the “umbrella” group for everyone who affiliates with this campus,
undergraduate or graduate, in any field. There are several categories, each with its own heading below.

Alumnus or Alumna of the Year Award

1948 Glenn T. Seaborg Ph.D. ’37
Discoverer of transuranium elements, Nobel Prize winner, physics professor, Berkeley’s second Chancellor, chair of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, director of the Lawrence Hall of Science

1950 Kenneth Pitzer Ph.D. ’37
A Berkeley physics professor before and after his years as president of Stanford and Rice universities

1965 John W. Gardner Ph.D. ’38
U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare; founder of the influential national groups Common Cause and Independent Sector

1981 Clark Kerr Ph.D. ’39
12th president of the University of California; Berkeley’s first chancellor, “architect” of California’s Master Plan for Higher Education

1982 Philip C. Habib Ph.D. ’52
Diplomatic trouble-shooter for the United States, as deputy assistant, assistant secretary, and undersecretary of state for political affairs, ambassador, special advisor, and special envoy

1985 John Kenneth Galbraith M.A. ’32, Ph.D. ’34
One of the most influential American economists of the 20th century writer, ambassador; in World War II served as “price czar” for the entire U.S.; longtime Harvard professor (now emeritus)

1988 David Pierpont Gardner M.A. ’59, Ph.D. ’66
15th president of the University of California; president of the University of Utah, 1973-1983

1989 Robert D. Raven L.L.B. ’52
Attorney; American Bar Association president; advocate for law with social
conscience who practiced what he preached

1990 Mimi Silbert M.A. ’65, D.Crim. ’68
Founder of Delancey Street, an organization which helps substance abusers gain control and lead productive lives

1992 Allen Broussard ’50, J.D. ’53
California Supreme Court Associate Justice, 1981-1991

1993 Walter E. Hoadley ’38, M.A. ’40, Ph.D. ’46
“Dean” of business economists; Federal Reserve economist; executive and chief economist, Bank of America, 1966-1981; consummate volunteer

1994 Tung-Yen Lin M.S. ’33
Longtime Berkeley professor of civil engineering and visionary whose pioneering work in prestressed concrete had a profound influence on structural design

From left: Glenn T. Seaborg, John Kenneth Galbraith, Mimi Silbert, T.Y. Lin.
From left: Glenn T. Seaborg, John Kenneth Galbraith, Mimi Silbert, T.Y. Lin.

Attorney (entertainment and tax law); longtime Boalt professor, vice chancellor at Berkeley 1960-1964; deputy attorney general of California (1940-1944)

2000 Maxine Hong Kingston ’62, C.Ed. ’65
Writer (The Woman Warrior, China Men, Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book), UC Berkeley senior lecturer in English (emeritus)

2002 William T. Bagley ’49, J.D. ’52
Attorney; California assemblyman; chairman of the California Transportation Commission, member of the California Public Utilities Commission; UC Regent (1989-2002)

2004 Lee P. Brown M.A. ’68, D.Crim. ’70
First African-American to complete a doctorate in criminal justice; headed the police departments of Atlanta, Houston, and New York; U.S. “drug czar” in the Clinton administration; two-term mayor of Houston

2006 Karl S. Pister ’45, M.S. ’48
UC Berkeley professor of civil engineering, emeritus; dean of the College of Engineering for ten years; chancellor of UC Santa Cruz for six years

From left: Marian Diamond, Lee Brown, Karl Pister.
From left: Marian Diamond, Lee Brown, Karl Pister.

Excellence in Achievement Award

1995 Sadako Ogata Ph.D. ’63
co-chair, Commission on Human Security; United Nations high commissioner for refugees, 1991-2000

1996 Larry W. Sonsini ’63. J.D. ’66
“The most sought-after lawyer in Silicon Valley,” chairman of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, adviser to firms such as Apple, Netscape, and Sun

1999 Judith Heumann M.P.H.’75
pioneer for disability rights; first advisor on disability for the World Bank; Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education (1993-2000); cofounder of the World Institute on Disability; deputy director of the Center for Independent Living (1975-1982)

2000 Samuel H. Smith ’61, Ph.D. ’65
president of Washington State University from 1985 to 2000, faculty member and dean at Pennsylvania State University for 16 years, prior to which he was a faculty member at Berkeley

2001 Maria Echaveste JD ’80
assistant to the President and deputy chief of staff in the White House 1998-2001

2001 James Schamus ’82, M.A. ’87, Ph.D. 2003 (English)

Film producer (Brokeback Mountain; Hulk; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Wonderland; Sense and Sensibility; The Brothers McMullen; Eat Drink Man Woman, and others) screenwriter, published film historian, and academic (holds a faculty position at Columbia University)

2003 David B. Goldstein B.S.’72, Ph.D. ’78 (physics)

Energy efficiency expert and advocate whose work has helped the environment and saved consumers billions of dollars in the last two decades

2003 Barbara Lee M.S.W. ’75

U.S. Congresswoman from the Ninth District. Uses her training as a social worker to help provide Americans with health care, housing, education, jobs, and liveable communities

2003 Ronald Takaki M.A. ’67, Ph.D. ’67 (history)
Longtime UC Berkeley professor, renowned author, co-founder Berkeley’s pioneering doctoral program in ethnic studies.

2004 Julie Gerberding M.P.H. ’90
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2004 Oren Jacob ’92, M.S. ’95 (mechanical engineering)
Pixar’s special effects supervisor (on Toy Story 2) and supervising technical director (on Finding Nemo)

2004 Arabella Martinez ’59, M.S.W. ’66
CEO, The Unity Council, Oakland; first executive director of the Spanish Speaking Unity Council; assistant secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare during the Carter administration

2006 Steven Chu Ph.D. ’76
Received the Nobel Prize in physics, 1997, for research in cooling and trapping atoms using laser light; current director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and professor of physics at Berkeley

From left: Barbara Lee, Julie Gerberding, Steven Chu.
From left: Barbara Lee, Julie Gerberding, Steven Chu.

— by Dick Cortén (originally published in The Graduate magazine, Spring 2006)