Caltech Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Brian Stoltz Receives Malcom Prize for Excellence in Mentoring The Malcom Prize honors a professor who "supports the achievement and well-being of students"

Brian Stoltz, the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator, has been awarded this year's Shirley M. Malcom Prize for Excellence in Mentoring.

www.caltech.edu/about/news/b...

Sarah Reisman Receives Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching The Feynman Prize is Caltech's highest teaching honor

Sarah Reisman, Bren Professor of Chemistry and Norman Davidson Leadership Chair of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, has been awarded this year's Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching, Caltech's highest teaching prize.

www.caltech.edu/about/news/s...

Brian Stoltz Receives Malcom Prize for Excellence in Mentoring The Malcom Prize honors a professor who "supports the achievement and well-being of students"

Please join us in congratulating Professor Brian Stoltz on being awarded the Shirley M. Malcom Prize for Excellence in Mentoring!
https://cce.caltech.edu/news-and-events/news/brian-stoltz-receives-malcom-prize-for-excellence-in-mentoring

Kicking off the long weekend with some exciting news! CCE Chair, Sarah Reisman, was awarded this year's Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching, Caltech's highest teaching prize!

Congratulation Professor Reisman!

Caltech Mourns the Passing of George Rossman (1944–2026) Caltech mineralogist George Rossman (PhD '71) passed away on February 6, 2026.

George Rossman (PhD '71), professor of mineralogy, emeritus, passed away on February 6, 2026. He was 81. Rossman will be remembered for his contributions to education at Caltech, which spanned 55 years and impacted thousands of students.

www.caltech.edu/about/news/c...

Watson Lecture: Kimberly See Explores the Future of Sustainable Battery Chemistries Can we reimagine the way we power modern life? On Wednesday, February 25, 2026, Kimberly See, professor of chemistry, will discuss her group’s research on next-generation battery chemistry that may…

Can we reimagine the way we power modern life? On Wednesday, February 25, 2026, Kimberly See, professor of chemistry, will discuss her group's research on next-generation battery chemistry that may lead to more efficient and sustainable ways of energizing the world.

www.caltech.edu/about/news/w...

Functional analysis of O-GlcNAcylation by networking of OGT interactors and substrates - Nature Chemical Biology Functional studies of O-GlcNAcylation have often focused on individual modifications. Now, a systems-level approach has identified simultaneous O-GlcNAcylation events that coordinate cellular activiti...

We integrated experimental and computational approaches to generate a systems-level view of a key post-translational modification, O-GlcNAc. In vivo studies across tissues reveal shared and tissue-specific functions. Congrats to Matt, John, Yao, and the whole team! #NOTISEme bit.ly/3ZgCOBM

Proof that order can be beautiful: the periodic table. 🧪
Happy National Periodic Table Day!

📸: Periodic table outside undergraduate chemistry labs in the Resnick Sustainability Institute

Did someone say 2016? 👀

Here’s a #FlashbackFriday to research moments from the Shapiro, Reisman, Arnold, and Davis labs.

CCE alumni: What are your favorite memories from 2016?

📸: Office of Strategic Communication and External Relations

ICYMI: The Warren and Katharine Schlinger Foundation is contributing $12 million to endow the Warren and Katharine Schlinger Scholarship Fund for chemical engineering undergrads, a discipline that had a consistent presence in the Schlingers' lives.

initiativeforstudents.caltech.edu/story-listin...

#MeetCCE: Tiffany Safar

Tiffany joined CCE as a Research Technician in the Clemons lab in August. Her educational and research journey began just a few blocks down at Pasadena City College and culminated in a bachelor's degree from UC San Diego earlier this year.
We're so glad you're here, Tiffany!

🚨Hot off the press @jacs.acspublications.org!
Your TEM can now solve crystal structures on its own.
Small molecules, materials, proteins—all with one platform: REyes, the first end-to-end autonomous electron diffraction suite
doi.org/10.1021/jacs...
@caltechcce.bsky.social @uclacb.bsky.social

A Breath of Fresh Air: Bacteria Confined to Droplets Form Complex Patterns Sujit Datta and his colleagues can explain and predict the surprising spatial arrangements formed within droplets

Through experiments, theory, and computational modeling, scientists have found that the way cells arrange themselves is shaped by oxygen levels and is predictable and controllable, offering insights that could lead to new ways to target infections.

www.caltech.edu/about/news/a...

The Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Caltech invites applications for a faculty position at all levels and in all areas of chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical engineering.

Interested candidates should apply at
applications.caltech.edu/job/chemistry

Deadline: Dec. 1, 2025.

#ThrowbackThursday to last week's Shaved Ice Social! This tradition makes time for incoming undergraduate students to meet and chat with our faculty, grad students and staff on the Beckman Mall while staying cool with Kona Ice. 🍧

We hope your first week at Caltech is going smoothly, undergrads!

Caltech Announces Newest Cohort of Leadership Chairs and Named Professorships This year Caltech recognizes four faculty members with leadership chairs and six with named professorships.

Ten Caltech faculty members begin the 2025-2026 academic year with newly bestowed honors: six with named professorships, one of the Institute's highest honors, and four with distinguished leadership chairs for administrative positions.

www.caltech.edu/about/news/l...

Scott Cushing Named a Moore Inventor Fellow The assistant professor of chemistry is the fourth Caltech faculty member to be named to the now-complete list of scientist-inventors

Congrats to Prof. Scott Cushing on being named a Moore Inventor Fellow!

The distinction comes with three years of funding, which Cushing plans to use to advance his work on a new generation of wearable sensors.

cce.caltech.edu/news-and-eve...

Celebrating Richard Flagan's 50 years of service to @caltech.edu! Rick arrived in 1975 intending to study combustion chemistry and ended up playing an enormously influential role in developing new instrumentation to quantify atmospheric aerosol and helping to mitigate air pollution in LA and beyond.

Caltech Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholar Recognized by the American Chemical Society for Outstanding Leadership Caltech's Chuqi Lu, Camila Suarez, and Jacob Rothbaum were recognized by the American Chemical Society for excellence in mentoring, inclusion, and research safety through the ACS Graduate Student and ...

The American Chemical Society (@acs.org) has recognized 2 graduate students & 1 postdoc from CCE for their outstanding contributions to mentoring, inclusion, and research safety.

Congrats to Chuqi Lu, Camila Suarez and Jacob Rothbaum on this honor! 🎉

Learn more about the awardees: bit.ly/46J3vDA

Neil Garg, Organic Chemist, Author, Startup Innovator, and Educational Leader An oral history with CCE alumnus Neil Garg

Alumni Spotlight: Neil Garg (PhD ’05)
In this Caltech Heritage Project interview, Neil Garg shares his journey from his graduate experience in the early days of the Stoltz lab to becoming a pioneering educator, startup founder, and faculty leader at UCLA.
heritageproject.caltech.edu/interviews-u...

Meet Allen Lee, our newest Facilities and Stockroom Manager!

Allen brings 29 yrs of experience as Lab Manager in the Rees Lab. His deep knowledge of Caltech’s systems and his collaborative approach will be invaluable during this transition. He will be working alongside Joe Drew through Jan. 2026.

Caltech Biochemists Uncover New Rules of Mitochondrial Protein Import Scientists in the lab of Shu-ou Shan have revised a long-standing biochemical model of protein delivery to the powerhouses of the cell

The Shan lab reveal that up to 20% of mitochondrial proteins begin entering the powerhouse of the cell while still being made—a process called cotranslational import. This discovery reshapes understanding of protein delivery & opens doors to therapeutic strategies. cce.caltech.edu/news-and-eve...

Please join us in welcoming our newest Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Johannes Morstein!

Johannes grew up in Rysum and Bremen, Germany. His group is working on Lipid and Membrane Chemical Biology.

📸 A few gems from our archives—recognize any faces?

These lab photos look back at the moments that helped build the foundation of where we are today. #ThrowbackThursday

Congrats to our faculty members who have been recognized with ACS 2026 National Awards!

🔶 Jonas Peters: ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry
🔷 Garnet Chan: ACS Award in Theoretical Chemistry
🔶 Greg Fu: Arthur C. Cope Award
🔷 Brian Stoltz: Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products

Had a pleasure introducing REyes, a fully autonomous, open-source electron diffraction suite at #ACSFall2025. Many thanks to the organizers @olexandr.bsky.social and #CASFutureLeaders for the opportunity
#ReciprocalEyes #chrmsky @caltechcce.bsky.social @hoseanelson.bsky.social @nsf-ccas.bsky.social

Last Friday, the Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Council hosted its 2nd Annual ChE Carnival. Students gathered in Tournament Park to play games, tie-dye shirts and even grilled up tasty hot dogs and burgers. We can't wait for the next one!

A Data Science-Guided Approach for the Development of Nickel-Catalyzed Homo-Diels–Alder Reactions The Ni-catalyzed homo-Diels–Alder (hDA) reaction represents a convergent but under-investigated approach to preparing bridged bicyclic ring systems. Using the kraken monophosphine descriptor library, ...

Some work from my postdoc in collaboration with the Reisman lab is now out in JACS! We developed Ni-catalyzed [2+2+2] homo-Diels–Alder cycloadditions guided by data science, which gives access to some really cool-looking molecules! doi.org/10.1021/jacs...

Optical Control of Membrane Viscosity Modulates ER-to-Golgi Trafficking The lipid composition of cellular membranes is highly dynamic and undergoes continuous remodeling, affecting the biophysical properties critical to biological function. Here, we introduce an optical a...

Excited to share our new @pubs.acs.org paper! We engineered cells with ~10% photolipids in the ER membrane. This enabled optical control of membrane viscosity to study its impact on ER→Golgi protein transport. @dirktrauner.bsky.social @noemijimenezrojo.bsky.social

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...