News and Publications

Kellogg School of Science and Technology

Jeffery W. Kelly, Ph.D.

Innovative new programs. Student honors. Generous gifts. The past year has been an exciting one for the Kellogg School of Science and Technology.

TSRI and the University of Oxford announced a joint graduate program in biology, chemistry, and biochemistry named the Skaggs Oxford Scholarships Program. This collaboration is the first time in its 800-year history that Britain's Oxford University has offered a degree jointly with another institution of higher learning. The joint degree is also the first of its kind offered by TSRI.

The Skaggs Oxford Scholarships Program, named for supermarket and drugstore leader L.S. Skaggs and his wife, Aline, will support 10 students during a 5-year program of study. Upon completion of the program, Skaggs Oxford Scholars will receive a doctoral degree from TSRI and Oxford University.

Doctoral candidates selected as Skaggs Oxford Scholars will be enrolled at both institutions and will spend 2-3 years studying biochemistry at Oxford University in England and 2-3 years exploring chemistry or biology at TSRI in La Jolla, California. The first scholars will enter the program in the fall of 2004.

In another major development, the Kellogg School launched a restructured graduate program: the TSRI Doctoral Programs in Chemical and Biological Sciences. The new program offers Ph.D. candidates a wide range of courses and increased flexibility in course selection.

Previously, TSRI offered 2 largely independent graduate programs: (1) chemistry and (2) macromolecular and cellular structure and chemistry. These programs were ranked sixth and ninth in the nation, respectively, by U.S. News & World Report. In addition, TSRI's graduate programs were ranked second in the specialty of organic chemistry.

Beginning with the entering class, students will participate in the new TSRI doctoral programs in chemical and biological sciences. In the new program, students will select from among 4 curricular tracks: chemistry, chemical biology, biology, and biophysics. In addition, the students will meet new requirements designed to raise academic standards and further promote a well-rounded scientific education. The curriculum changes were endorsed by a vote of the faculty and students and were approved by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Twenty-nine young men and women were awarded Ph.D.s in TSRI's commencement ceremony in May 2003, which featured distinguished scientist Daniel E. Koshland, Jr., of the University of California at Berkeley as keynote speaker. Dr. Koshland and businessman, philanthropist, and TSRI trustee John Moores were also awarded honorary degrees. Students in the Class of 2003 have gone on to accept positions at prestigious organizations around the world, including Harvard University; Yale University; University of California, San Diego; Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule; Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine; Medimmune, Inc.; Diversa Corporation; Gilead Sciences; Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.; Eisai Research Institute; and Vossius & Partner.

TSRI's entering class consists of 50 students representing undergraduate institutions from Harvard University to the University of California, Berkeley. The new students had an opportunity to see the depth and breadth of research at TSRI in September 2003 at the 10th annual faculty and graduate student retreat. More than 40 faculty members and 180 students attended the event, which included 18 scientific talks and 100 posters presented by returning students.

Also in 2003, a number of TSRI students were recognized for their scientific achievements and research promise. Jeffrey Johnson was awarded a La Jolla Interfaces in Science fellowship; Catherine Barglow, Doug Fowler, and David Lin, National Science Foundation fellowships; Anthony Jon Roecker, the American Chemical Society Division of Medicinal Chemistry Predoctoral Fellowship Award; Scott Snyder, a 2003 Bristol-Myers Squibb Fellowship in Synthetic Organic Chemistry and the Lesly Starr Shelton Award for Excellence in Chemistry Graduate Studies; Nadim Jessani, a California Breast Cancer Research Program fellowship; Jamie Keck, a fellowship from the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program; Rena Astronomo, an award from the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada; and Carlos Guerrero, a fellowship from the National Institutes of Health.

Finally, the Kellogg School received 2 gifts of $425,000 each to permanently endow fellowships for students in the students' critical first year of study. The Fletcher Jones Foundation was responsible for one gift, which is the foundation's second fellowship endowment at TSRI. A donor who wished to remain anonymous initiated the other endowment gift. In addition to the endowments, for the first time, a fellowship named the Andrea Elizabeth Vogt Memorial Award was offered to a student in excellent academic standing who demonstrated financial hardship. Other organizations currently funding fellowships include the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation, the William and Sharon Bauce Family Foundation, the Norton B. Gilula Graduate Student Fund, the Louis R. Jabinson Investigatorship Fund, and the Koshland Family Foundation.