Dr. Bruce Beutler, who graduated with a bachelor’s in biology from the University of California, San Diego in 1976 at the age of 18, has been awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Beutler is chair of the Department of Genetics at The Scripps Research Institute. He is in the process of leaving La Jolla, however, to take a new position as a professor and director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Four undergraduate students at the University of California, San Diego have received the 2011 Undergraduate Library Research Prize for their outstanding research skills. The prize, which is co-sponsored by the UC San Diego Libraries, the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, and the UCSD Alumni Association, includes cash awards of $1000 and $500 for first and second place.
President Barack Obama today named University of California, San Diego bioengineering professor Shu Chien one of the seven eminent researchers to receive the National Medal of Science, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists and engineers. Chien is the only engineer among the seven medalists.
Many of you know Suresh Subramani as the Executive Vice Chancellor (EVC) of Academic Affairs. And you probably know that he is a highly distinguished cell and molecular biologist. But you may not know that he has worked at UC San Diego for 30 years, or that he is a vegetarian, or that he has two favorite places on this planet and they are nowhere near each other. In this interview, he talks about his responsibilities as the campus' chief academic and operating officer; his long career at the university, from faculty member to EVC; and he gives us insight into the future of education and research at UC San Diego.
Paul K. Yu, professor of electrical and computer engineering in the Jacobs School of Engineering and associate vice chancellor for Research Initiatives at the University of California, San Diego, has been named the inaugural holder of the William S. C. Chang Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering.