Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence

<p><b>David Bonner (1916-1964)</b></p> <p>David Bonner came to San Diego in 1960 to join our startup campus and serve as founding chair of the Department of Biology. He lead the implementation of a novel plan for integrating the teaching of the basic sciences with the curriculum of the new School of Medicine, and the “Bonner Plan” was adopted by leading research universities throughout the U.S. and across the globe. Dr. Bonner began his career as a pioneering plant physiologist and became a biochemical geneticist working with Neurospora crassa. Bonner Hall which houses many of today’s leading bio-scientists is a testament to our founding chair’s enduring legacy and spirit of innovation throughout Revelle College. </p>

<p><b>S. Jon Singer</b></p> <p>Jon Singer joined the faculty at UCSD in 1961 and is currently Professor Emeritus. Dr. Singer began his work on membrane proteins and aided in the development of the 'Fluid Mosaic Model' of the cell membrane at UCSD. He later studied the cytoskeleton. In 2001, he published a book, The Splendid Feast of Reason, regarding rationalism and the philosophy of science. Previously, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Linus Pauling at the California Institute of Technology, where he co-discovered the basis of abnormal hemoglobin in sickle-cell anemia.</p>

<p><b>Herbert Stern (1918-1998)</b></p> <p>Herb Stern was recruited to UCSD in 1965 as Department Chair from 1967-1975 and again from 1983-1986. Between 1945 and 1965 he held a variety of professorial positions at UC Berkeley, the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, Rockefeller University, the Canadian Department of Agriculture in Ottawa and the University of Illinois, Urbana. Herb Stern’s extraordinary UCSD legacy lives on through the Herbert Stern Chair and the Herbert Stern Lectureship. He graduated in 1940 with a BS from McGill University and later earned his doctorate in plant genetics from McGill.</p>

<p><b>Dan Lindsley</b></p> <p>Dan Lindsley, Research Professor of Biology, possesses a distinguished career of over 40 years at our campus, having joined the faculty in 1967. Previously, he was a biologist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was president of the Genetics Society of America in 1986 and recipient of its T. H. Morgan Medal in 1989. In 2000, he was the recipient of a Distinguished Alumni Award from Cal Tech. He received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1952.</p>

<p><b>Shella Fuhrman Ph.D. ’76</b></p> <p>Shella Fuhrman began her distinguished career, spanning over 34 years, as a research scientist at Agouron, later acquired by Warner-Lambert and eventually Pfizer. Her ground-breaking research has sought to identify therapeutics for many of the world’s major infectious diseases, such as HIV and Hepatitis C. </p>

<p><b>Gary Curtis ’69</b></p> <p>Gary Curtis is a serial entrepreneur and biomedical pioneer, having launched eight successful startup companies. In 1990, Curtis established the first alumni endowed scholarships in honor of his father, Thomas Curtis, to help alleviate the financial struggle of today’s UCSD students. The scholarship awards science majors who take an active role in leadership in their communities. </p>

<p><b>Stu Brody</b></p> <p>Stu Brody recently retired after 43 years of dedicated service to UCSD; he joined the faculty in 1967. Currently, he is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biology and the co-director of the UCSD Center for Chronobiology, a leading organized research group dedicated to advancing circadian research across the spectrum, from cells to humans. In 2010 the division established the Stu Brody Fund for Excellence in Chronobiology to support outstanding graduate students in the field of Chronobiology. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University.</p>

<p><b>Paul Price</b></p> <p>Paul Price is a Distinguished Professor at UCSD and has contributed more than forty years of innovative academic research to our campus. He received UCSD's Outstanding Teacher Awards in 1971, 1979, 1985, 1988 and 1992, and was named as an Academic Senate Distinguished Teacher for the 2000-2001 academic year. He received his BS in Biochemistry from Pomona College in 1964 and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1968 from Rockefeller University</p>

<p><b>Paul Saltman (1928-1999)</b></p> <p>Paul Saltman, a beloved professor and leading nutrition researcher came to UCSD in 1967 and subsequently served as provost of Revelle College as well as vice chancellor of Academic Affairs. Previously, he held faculty positions at the University of Southern California, the University of Copenhagen and at Murdoch University in Australia. Dr. Saltman’s primary passions were teaching and communicating science to greater society. His extraordinary legacy lives on through the Paul D. Saltman Endowed Chair in Science Education, the Barbara J. and Paul D. Saltman Distinguished Teaching Awards, the undergraduate research journal Saltman Quarterly and the annual UCSD surf invitational. He received his BS in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1949, followed by a Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1953, also at Caltech.</p>

<p><b>Masaki Hayashi</b></p> <p>Masaki Hayashi is currently Professor Emeritus at UCSD after a renowned career of more than 45 years. Nobel Laureate and UCSD alumnus, Susumu Tonegawa ’68, worked with Dr. Hayashi while attending UCSD. Together, they studied the transcriptional control of phage lambda and the morphogenesis of phages. He earned his Ph.D. in the biology of genetics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1962.</p>

<p><b>Susumu Tonegawa Ph.D. ’68</b></p> <p>Susumu Tonegawa has enjoyed a world-renowned career for more than 40 years and is the Picower Professor of Biology and Neuroscience at MIT and Director of the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics. He was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his discovery of the genetic principle for generation of antibody diversity. He was the eighth student to receive a doctorate in biology at UC San Diego.</p>

<p><b>Stanley Mills</b></p> <p>Stanley Mills is currently Professor Emeritus at UCSD. Throughout his venerable teaching and research career, he explored groundbreaking discoveries in PSA testing for prostate cancer. He came to UCSD as an assistant professor in 1961, recruited by David Bonner, a fellow Yale graduate. He received his Ph.D. at Yale University, studying immunochemical techniques.</p>

<p><b>Edith Lord Ph.D. ’75</b></p> <p>Edith Lord is the Senior Associate Dean of Graduate Education and Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Rochester University. During her celebrated tenure, more than 30 years, she has demonstrated her excellence as a scientist and her passion for graduate education.</p>

<p><b>J. Craig Venter ’72, Ph.D. ’75</b></p> <p>J. Craig Venter is an innovative biologist and businessman with nearly four decades of leadership experience and is currently the president of the J. Craig Venter Institute. He founded the Institute for Genomic Research and was instrumental in mapping the human genome. He was listed on Time Magazine’s 2007 and 2008 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. </p>

<p><b>Sheldon Engelhorn ’72</b></p> <p>Sheldon Engelhorn has amassed a career of over 35 years and is the former VP and co-founder of NOVEX, a biotechnology research tools company. He and his wife, Susan, established the Engelhorn Family Scholarship Fund in 2002 to support transfer students at UC San Diego. He is the immediate past president of the UCSD Alumni Association. </p>

<p><b>Larry Goldstein ’76</b></p> <p>Larry Goldstein brings nearly four decades of academic research experience focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of intracellular movement in neurons and the role of transport failures in neurodegenerative diseases and serves as director of UCSD’s Stem Cell Center. He is a widely recognized science and thought leader in stem cell research. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. </p>

<p><b>Donna Sieckmann Ph.D. ’75</b></p> <p>Donna Sieckmann has devoted over thirty years of dedicated service as a leading research scientist in the Neurotrauma Department at the Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate, Naval Medical Research Center. She has focused on developing and evaluating new technologies to enhance the health, safety, performance, and deployment readiness of Navy and Marine Corps personnel. </p>

<p><b>Eve Marder Ph.D. ’74</b></p> <p>Eve Marder has advanced through the professorial ranks at Brandeis University during her notable tenure of more than 30 years and is currently Professor of Neuroscience and a Past Chair of the Biology Department. As a pioneering leader, she was instrumental in the establishment of both undergraduate and graduate programs in Neuroscience. She is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.</p>

<p><b>Anthony Jackson ’74</b></p> <p>Anthony Jackson is an emergency room physician, with over three decades of experience, who mentors underrepresented middle and high school students. His volunteer efforts support and mentor low -income, high-achieving underrepresented students from the LA area, encouraging them to attend college. He has been an unwavering supporter of minority scholarship programs at UC San Diego.</p>

<p><b>Mel Green</b></p> <p>Mel Green joined the faculty at UCSD in 1964 and his distinguished academic career spans almost a half century. He is currently Professor Emeritus and was the first director of the HHMI Precollege and Undergraduate Science Education Program, dedicated to furthering the education of students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds in the biological sciences at the undergraduate and community college transfer levels. His research has focused on Molecular and Cellular Biology, specifically medical topics such as cancer, AIDS, and wound repair. Mel is also a proud UCSD parent of sons Alex ’90, MD ’94 and Danny ’04. After attaining his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois in 1962, he completed post-doctoral research at the California Institute of Technology under the guidance of Nobel laureate Renato Dulbecco. </p>

<p><b>Sally Jo Divis ’68</b></p> <p>Sally Jo Divis is the lead Instructional Support Technician within the department of Chemistry at California State University, San Marcos, bringing nearly 45 years of experience. Her department’s mission is to provide students with the best education possible in the basics of analytical, inorganic, organic, physical, and biochemistry, including the most recent technology in instrumentation; an initiative in which Divis is a driving force. </p>

(Hover over the photos above to find out about some of our early Biology pioneers)

Biological Sciences Events

January 11, 2011

4:00pm

Nobel Laureate Lecture:
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
The Road to the Structure of the Ribosome: A Personal Account
Skaggs Auditorium
Presented by:
The Clifford Grobstein Memorial Lecture Series

Click the thumbnails at left to see the videos of our Nobel Laureate Lectures

Main Campus Events

February 22-24: Lecture Series

6-8pm
Price Center Ballroom West

Join the stimulating lecture & discussion series featuring Nobel laureates, noted alumni explorer Maurizio Seracini and a panel of respected innovators who will discuss some of the exciting advances in healthcare taking place at UC San Diego.

February 25: Innovation Day Expo

4-7pm
RIMAC Arena

For more, visit: http://50th.ucsd.edu

It was 1960. John F. Kennedy was elected President. The Beatles were formed. UCSD was established as a university campus. It was a phenomenal year.

Biology was one of five founding departments at UCSD—the “heartbeat of the upper campus “ in the early 1960s. Under the leadership of founding department chair, David Bonner and faculty leaders, Biology played a vital role in the of startup and success of UCSD’s medical school and our entire university’s growth, development and extraordinary rise in academic excellence. View a timeline of Biology's incredible history

Now, it’s time to celebrate. It’s time to reflect on the past 50 years and pay tribute to our early pioneers; it’s time to spotlight our present achievements; and it’s time to an unveil a bold vision for our future where UCSD Biological Sciences is driving force behind our 21st century bio-based economy.

Please join us throughout the year for our 50th events, when the entire UCSD Biology community – faculty, staff, alumni and friends – comes together to celebrate.

Other Programs

Our 50th Core Committee

Stuart Brody, co-chair
Dan Lindsley, co-chair
Willie Brown
Don Helinski
Paul Price
Immo Scheffler
Mel Simon
Nick Spitzer

Click here for a list of our biology founders

Videos:

The Division of Biological Sciences in conjunction with the Clifford Grobstein Memorial Lecture Series proudly presents our Nobel Laureate Lectures. Click each thumbnail below to view the videos.