Pat Joseph

Dec 10, 2024 | alumni.berkeley.edu | Nathalia Alcantara |Pat Joseph

Look, there he is, the new chancellor, introducing himself to freshmen on Sproul Plaza. “Hi, I’m Rich. I’m new here myself.” Well, not exactly true. He’s certainly in a new role, but with the exception of grad school at MIT (Ph.D. in economics), a six-year stint on faculty at Columbia, and two years at Goldman Sachs, Chancellor Rich Lyons ’82 has been at Berkeley since he was an undergrad himself, making him the first leader of the university since Robert Gordon Sproul to call Cal alma mater.

Dec 10, 2024 | alumni.berkeley.edu | Pat Joseph

You’re new as a professor at Berkeley, but I think I should be saying welcome back, no? Yes, I was a postdoc here for five years, working on how hummingbirds fly in adverse weather conditions, from 2010 to 2012, then again from 2013 to 2016. My academic journey began with a bachelor’s degree in Puebla, Mexico, followed by a master’s degree in the Yucatán Peninsula. I then completed my Ph.D. in Baja California, in Ensenada.

Dec 10, 2024 | alumni.berkeley.edu | Pat Joseph |Olufemi “Femi” Ogundele

Graduating with my doctorate from the LEAD program was an experience I’ll never forget. In my role as the dean of undergraduate admissions, I’m constantly promoting the Berkeley experience. So going to school here and working here at the same time was probably one of the greatest things I’ve ever done. Last year, the first group of freshmen that I admitted to Berkeley graduated.

Dec 10, 2024 | alumni.berkeley.edu | Margie Cullen |Pat Joseph

A major brushfire in the Oakland Hills last October was a scarcely needed reminder of the perennial fire risk in the East Bay Hills. At Berkeley Lab, that risk is addressed, in part, with goats. Every summer, when the grass is dry, a herd of 300 or so is brought in from Goats R Us in Orinda to munch away at the undergrowth on the steep hills of the 200-acre federal property. It’s a low-tech method to protect one of the highest tech facilities in the world. Why not use machinery instead?

Dec 4, 2024 | alumni.berkeley.edu | Pat Joseph |Emma Silvers

When Sara*, a third-year business and psychology student at UC Berkeley, took an undergraduate history class called “Palestine and the Palestinians: A Modern History” last year, she wasn’t expecting much of the curriculum to surprise her. Her father grew up in Palestine, and moved to the U.S. in 1987 to finish his studies when Birzeit University, the top college in Palestine, was closed during the first Intifada.