Nobel Prize Turing Award Academy Award Fields Medal Pulitzer Prize Wolf Prize Breakthrough Prize {{columns-list|colwidth=20em| •
Ian Agol – professor of mathematics at UC Berkeley; mathematician of the topology of three-dimensional manifolds; 2016
Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics "
for spectacular contributions to low dimensional topology and geometric group theory, including work on the solutions of the tameness, virtual Haken, and virtual fibering conjectures" •
James P. Allison – professor at UC Berkeley (1985–2004); 2014
Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences "
for the discovery of T cell checkpoint blockade as effective cancer therapy" •
Nima Arkani-Hamed, PhD 1997 – theoretical physicist, faculty member of the Institute for Advance Study (Princeton, New Jersey), director of the Center For Future High Energy Physics in Beijing, China; professor (1999–2001) at UC Berkeley;
Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics "for original approaches to outstanding problems in particle physics, including the proposal of large extra dimensions, new theories for the Higgs boson, novel realizations of supersymmetry, theories for dark matter, and the exploration of new mathematical structures in gauge theory scattering amplitudes" (also listed in
§Nobel laureates) •
Paul Alivisatos, Ph.D. 1986 – Samsung Distinguished Professor in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Research and Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science & Engineering; National Medal of Science
"for his foundational contributions to the field of nanoscience; for the development of nanocrystals as a building block of nanotechnologies; and for his leadership in the nanoscience community" •
Bruce Ames – professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UC Berkeley and director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center; 1998 National Medal of Science
"for changing the direction of basic and applied research on mutation, cancer and aging by devising a simple, inexpensive test for environmental and natural mutagens, by identifying causes and effects of oxidative DNA damage, and by translating these findings into intelligible public policy recommendations on diet and cancer risk for the American people" •
Horace Barker – professor of Biochemistry (1936–1975); 1968 National Medal of Science
"for his profound study of the chemical activities of microorganisms, including the unraveling of fatty acid metabolism and the discovery of the active coenzyme form of vitamin B12" •
Melvin Calvin – University Professor of Chemistry (1937–1980); 1989 National Medal of Science
"for his pioneering studies in the mechanism of photosynthesis and bioenergetics, and for the application of scientific theory toward the solution of the most fundamental problems of the age-energy, food, chemical and viral carcinogenesis, and the origin of life" (also listed in
§Nobel laureates) •
Shiing-Shen Chern – professor of Mathematics at UC Berkeley (1960–1979); founder and inaugural director (1981–1984) of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute at UC Berkeley; namesake of Chern Hall, the
Chern Medal, and the
Chern Prize; 1975 National Medal of Science
"for developing and extending techniques that led to profound discoveries in geometry and topology" (also listed in
§Wolf Prize) •
Alexandre Chorin – professor of mathematics at Berkeley, University Professor at the University of California; 2012 National Medal of Science
"for the development of revolutionary methods for realistic fluid-flow simulation, now ubiquitous in the modeling and design of engines, aircraft wings, and heart valves, and in the analysis of natural flows" •
Ray W. Clough – professor of Structural Engineering at UC Berkeley (1949–1987); 1994 National Medal of Science
"for his outstanding contributions in the fields of finite element analysis, structural dynamics, and earthquake engineering which had extraordinary influence in the development of modern engineering" •
Marvin L. Cohen – University Professor of Physics; 2001 National Medal of Science
"for his creation and application of a quantum theory for explaining and predicting properties of real materials, which formed the basis for semiconductor physics and nanoscience" •
Peter Goldreich – 1990 Miller Professorship at UC Berkeley; 1995 National Medal of Science
"for his profound and lasting contributions to planetary sciences and astrophysics, providing fundamental theoretical insights for understanding the rotation of planets, the dynamics of planetary rings, pulsars, astrophysical masers, the spiral arms of galaxies, and the oscillations of the Sun" •
Darleane C. Hoffman – professor UC Berkeley from 1984; 1997 National Medal of Science
"for her discovery of primordial plutonium in nature and the symmetric spontaneous fission of heavy nuclei; for pioneering studies of elements 104, 105, and 106, and for her outstanding service to education of students in nuclear chemistry and as director of the Seaborg Institute for Transactinium Science of the University of California" •
Dudley R. Herschbach – member of the Chemical Faculty at UC Berkeley (1959–1963); 1991 National Medal of Science
"for his seminal contributions to the fundamental understanding of reactions of atoms and molecules, collision by collision" •
Leonid Hurwicz – visiting professor (1976–1977) at UC Berkeley; 1990 National Medal of Science
"for his pioneering work on the theory of modern decentralized allocation mechanisms" (also listed in
List of Nobel laureates affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley) •
Harold S. Johnston – professor of chemistry (1957–1991) at UC Berkeley and dean of the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley (1966–1970); 1997 National Medal of Science ''"for his major contributions to the chemical sciences in the areas of kinetics and photochemistry, and for his pivotal role in providing understanding and conservation of the Earth's atmospheric environment"'' •
Richard M. Karp – professor (1968–1994 and 1999–present) of EECS at UC Berkeley; 1996 National Medal of Science
"for his pioneering research in theoretical computer science and the development of NP-completeness, a concept having an important role in the theory and the practice of computation" •
Judith P. Klinman – professor (1978–present); 2012 National Medal of Science
"for her discoveries of fundamental chemical and physical principles underlying enzyme catalysis and her leadership in the community of scientists" •
Daniel E. Koshland Jr., BA 1941 – professor of biochemistry (1965–2007) at UC Berkeley; 1990 National Medal of Science
"for profoundly influencing the understanding of how proteins function through his induced-fit model of enzyme actrion. His incisive analysis of bacterial chemotaxis has led to a deeper understanding of the molecular basis of memory and adaptation" – professor emeritus of EECS at UC Berkeley; 2014
National Medal of Technology and Innovation "for pioneering innovations in microelectronics including reliability technologies, the first industry-standard model for circuit design, and the first 3-dimensional transistors, which radically advanced semiconductor technology" •
Arthur H. Rosenfeld – professor of physics (1954–2017); 2011
National Medal of Technology and Innovation "for extraordinary leadership in the development of energy-efficient building technologies and related standards and policies" MacArthur Fellowship The
MacArthur Fellowship is also known as the "Genius Grant" •
Robert Axelrod – professor (1968–1974) of political science at UC Berkeley; 1987 MacArthur Fellowship •
Jillian Banfield – professor (2001–present) in the Department of Biology; 1999 MacArthur Fellowship •
Michael Baxandall – professor (1986–1996) of art history at UC Berkeley; 1988 MacArthur Fellowship •
Carolyn Bertozzi, Ph.D. 1993 – professor of chemistry (1996–2015); 1999 MacArthur Fellowship •
Peter Brown – professor (1972–1986) of classics and history at UC Berkeley; 1982 MacArthur Fellowship •
Lu Chen – professor (2003–present) of neuroscience and molecular and cell biology, 2005 MacArthur Fellowship •
Robert F. Coleman – professor of mathematics at UC Berkeley; 1987 MacArthur Fellowship •
Mark Danner – professor of journalism (1998–present); 1999 MacArthur Fellowship •
Michael Dickinson – Williams Professor (1996 – 2002) in the Department of Integrative biology; 2001 MacArthur Fellowship •
David Donoho – professor (1984–1990) of statistics; MacArthur Fellowship 1991 •
Jon H. Else, B.A. 1968 –
Prix Italia recipient (
The Day After Trinity), recipient of four
Emmy Awards, cinematographer on the Academy Award-winning
Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?, current professor of journalism at UC Berkeley •
Alice Fulton – former lecturer (2004) at UC Berkeley (formally, the Holloway Lecturer in the Practice of Poetry at UC Berkeley); 1991 MacArthur Fellowship •
Thom Gunn – lecturer (1958–1966, 1973–2000) in English; 1993 MacArthur Fellowship •
Eva Harris, Ph.D. 1993 – professor in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley; researcher of
dengue fever; 1997 MacArthur Fellowship •
Lin He – current professor of cell and developmental biology at UC Berkeley; 2009 MacArthur Fellowship •
Walter Hood, M.Arch., M.L.A. 1989 –
Berkeley professor, former chair of Landscape Architecture,
College of Environmental Design; 2019 MacArthur Fellowship •
John Hopfield – professor (1961–1964) of physics; 1983 MacArthur Fellowship •
Raymond Jeanloz – current professor of earth and planetary science and of astronomy at UC Berkeley; 1988 MacArthur Fellowship •
David Keightley – professor emeritus in the Department of History at UC Berkeley; 1986 MacArthur Fellowship •
Evelyn Fox Keller – professor (1988–1992) of Women's Studies and Rhetoric at UC Berkeley; 1992 MacArthur Fellowship •
Nicole King – professor of integrative biology and of molecular and cell biology (2003–present) at UC Berkeley; 2005 MacArthur Fellowship •
M. A. R. Koehl – professor, Integrative biology; 1990 MacArthur Fellowship •
Claire Kremen – current professor of conservation biology at UC Berkeley (present); MacArthur Fellowship 2007 •
Leslie Kurke – professor (1990–present) of literature at UC Berkeley; current Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor at UC Berkeley; 1999 MacArthur Fellowship •
Polina Lishko – current professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology; 2020 MacArthur Fellowship •
Michael Manga – current professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences; 2005 MacArthur Fellowship •
Michael Marletta – Aldo DeBenedictis Distinguished Professor of Chemistry (2001–2011) at UC Berkeley; 1995 MacArthur Fellowship •
Pamela Matson – professor (1993–1997) of ecosystem ecology at UC Berkeley; 1995 MacArthur Fellowship •
Susan McClary – musicologist, former Berkeley lecturer (1993); 1995 MacArthur Fellowship •
Tiya Miles – assistant professor at Berkeley (2000–2002); 2011 MacArthur Fellowship •
Richard A. Muller, Ph.D. – professor of Physics at UC Berkeley, senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; 1982 MacArthur Fellowship •
Sherry Ortner – former professor (1994–1996) of anthropology; 1990 MacArthur Fellowship •
George Oster – professor of cell and developmental biology at Berkeley; 1985 MacArthur Fellowship •
Margie Profet, B.A. physics 1985 – former Berkeley researcher; researcher in
evolutionary biology; 1993 MacArthur Fellowship •
Xiao Qiang – adjunct professor at Berkeley's School of Information (2012–present) and its Graduate School of Journalism (2003–2011); 2001 MacArthur Fellowship •
Matthew Rabin – professor of economics; 2000 MacArthur Fellowship •
Ishmael Reed – lecturer (1968–2005) at Berkeley; poet and novelist; 1998 MacArthur Fellowship •
Adam Riess – post-doctoral Miller Fellow at UC Berkeley; Nobel laureate (2011, Physics); 2008 MacArthur Fellowship •
Julia Hall Bowman Robinson, B.A. mathematics 1940, Ph.D. 1948 – professor (1976–1985) of mathematics at UC Berkeley, specializing in
Hilbert's Tenth Problem; first female president of the
American Mathematical Society; namesake of the
Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival; 1983 MacArthur Fellowship •
Emmanuel Saez – current Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley; 2010 MacArthur Fellowship •
Pamela Samuelson – current Richard M. Sherman '74 Distinguished Professor of Law and Information Management at UC Berkeley, co-director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology; 1997 MacArthur Fellowship listed among
Time magazine's top ten academic leaders; MacArthur Fellowship 1981 •
Allan Sly, PhD 2009 Statistics – faculty member at the Department of Statistics at UC Berkeley (2011–2016); == By field ==