Neal Devaraj Named Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar

Neal Devaraj

Neal Devaraj, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC San Diego, has been named a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, one of 13 faculty members nationwide to receive the honor.

Criteria for selection include an independent body of scholarship attained in the early years of a faculty member’s appointment and a demonstrated commitment to education, signaling the promise of continuing outstanding contributions to both research and teaching.

The award provides an unrestricted research grant of $75,000.  Devaraj will receive his award for his research project “Site-Specific Covalent Tagging of RNA for Live Cell Imaging and Affinity Purification.” He is the sixth faculty member at UC San Diego to receive the prestigious award.

The foundation said the 13 faculty members receiving awards this year “are within the first five years of their academic careers, have each created an outstanding independent body of scholarship, and are deeply committed to education.”

“The Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award is the Dreyfus Foundation’s flagship program,” said Mark Cardillo, executive director of The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. “The award supports exceptional young academic researchers at an early and crucial stage of their careers. They are selected based on their independent contributions to both research in the chemical sciences and education.”

Since its inception in 1970, the Teacher-Scholar program has awarded more than $45 million to support emerging young leaders in the chemical sciences.

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation is a leading non-profit organization devoted to the advancement of the chemical sciences. It was established in 1946 by chemist, inventor and businessman Camille Dreyfus in honor of his brother Henry. The Foundation's purpose is “to advance the science of chemistry, chemical engineering and related sciences as a means of improving human relations and circumstances around the world.” More information on the foundation and award can be found on the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation website.