2011 Recipient: Yuan Tseh "Y.T." Lee
Yuan Tseh Lee, a Nobel Laureate who has been called “the Mozart of physical chemistry,” is one of the most renowned citizens of Taiwan. Dr. Lee’s contributions to his native country — as an academician, researcher, educational reformer, and statesman — have been truly remarkable.
Inspired by Madame Curie, Dr. Lee chose to major in chemistry during his freshman year in college. He graduated from National Taiwan University in 1959 and obtained an M.S. from the National Tsinghua University in 1961. The following year, he enrolled in the Ph.D. program in chemistry at Berkeley, earning his doctorate in 1965. In 1968, following postdoctoral work at Harvard, Dr. Lee became an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, but he returned to Berkeley’s Department of Chemistry as a faculty member in 1974. “I came to Berkeley in 1962 to pursue my graduate studies because Berkeley had the best professors in the world,” he once said. “I returned in 1974 as a professor because we have the best students.”
Dr. Lee’s pioneering research helped transform molecular-beams research from a clumsy curiosity to a powerful tool that reveals how chemical reactions work in terms of the motion of individual atoms and the flow of energy among them. His stellar research was recognized in 1986 with both the National Medal of Science and the Nobel Prize, which he shared with Dudley Herschbach and John Polanyi. Dr. Lee later returned to Taiwan to serve as president of Academia Sinica, devoting his energies to the development of the country’s scientists and scholars and serving as a role model for young people. Since retiring in 2006, Dr. Lee has called Taiwan’s attention to the dangers of climate change, condemning the kinds of consumerism and unregulated industrialization that have been a major cause of global warming.
The Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award
The Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award was established in 1964 by Mr. and Mrs. Walter A. Haas, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Peter E. Haas, and Mr. and Mrs. Richard N. Goldman. One of the most prestigious honors conferred by the Berkeley campus, the award was created to mark the 50th wedding anniversary of Walter A. Haas, longtime head of Levi Strauss, and his wife, arts patron Elise Haas. The award acknowledges their devotion to the University of California, Berkeley and their interest in international affairs.
The Haas International Award honors an alumnus of the University of California, Berkeley (defined as having attended the campus for a minimum of two semesters or three quarters) who is a native, citizen, and resident of a nation other than the United States of America, and who has a distinguished record of service to his or her country. The service may be in any field of endeavor, including but not limited to the arts, sciences, classical professions, education, business, or government. The recipient must have been enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student for at least one full year; the earning of a degree is not required.
The Haas International Award includes a cash prize of US $15,000, an engraved medallion, and travel expenses for the recipient to attend the award’s presentation. The presentation will be made at the University’s Commencement Convocation Ceremony, held in May.
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