UC Berkeley UDAR

Introducing the newest class of Golden Bears 💛🐻 Congratulations, Class of 2026! #UCBerkeley #CalGrad

Save the date: Spring Commencement is May 16, 2026! 🎓#CalGrad Graduating Bears in the Class of 2026, tickets and registration for the campuswide ceremony opens on March 17, 2026. Stay tuned for more information in your inboxes and everywhere else you get Commencement updates, from regalia and program deadlines to your department graduations and other ceremonies. Learn more at the Commencement website at the link in our bio: commencement.berkeley.edu #UCBerkeley 📸 Photos by Keegan Houser (@khdesign01 ), UC Berkeley

ICYMI, last week, professor emeritus John Clarke shared the Nobel Prize in physics with John Martinis and Michel Devoret, who worked alongside Clarke researching quantum tunneling while at Cal. And for chemistry, Professor Omar Yaghi was recognized for his work in developing metal-organic frameworks. Yaghi’s win brings UC Berkeley’s count to a total of 28 faculty members who have won a Nobel Prize. These researchers are among the five affiliated with the @uofcalifornia that were awarded Nobel Prizes this year. This is a record-breaking achievement, and four of those five researchers have UC Berkeley ties. These awards demonstrate how UC researchers are leading the way in advancing society through scientific inquiry and exploration. When we #SpeakUp4Science, we speak up for world-changing breakthroughs. #UCBerkeley #NobelPrize2025

Charles Long has been awarded the University Medal, given each year to UC Berkeley’s top graduating senior. At 43, Long is a double major in sociology and social welfare. Through his studies of policing and violence, he has harnessed his childhood struggle, time incarcerated and experience as a nontraditional student to positively impact those around him. In a letter of recommendation, Laleh Behbehanian, a continuing lecturer in the Department of Sociology, wrote that Long’s ability to blend theoretical, analytic and critical thinking placed him among the most outstanding students she’d encountered in her 23 years of teaching. Since his first days on campus, Long’s work as a mentor and teacher in juvenile halls and San Quentin State Prison has shaped his research and inspired him to improve the carceral system. “I once had my future taken from me by a system that called itself justice,” he wrote in his university medalist essay. “Berkeley gave me the credentials, credibility and restoration of spirit to return to those same systems — this time with tools, language and purpose.” 🔗 Full video linked in bio: https://bit.ly/490jHkO 
 [Video description: University Medalist Charles Long reflects on his educational journey — the challenges, the turning points and the community that carried him to graduation. Shot on the UC Berkeley campus, the video features iconic imagery of the campus and blends interview footage with campus life scenes, offering an inspiring look at second chances.] 
#UCBerkeley #CalGrad

For all the friends, family, and loved ones who can’t join us on campus to celebrate the Class of 2026 tomorrow, join us online at the livestream! 🔗 Head to commencement.berkeley.edu to join in on the festivities. #UCBerkeley #CalGrad

At 17 years old, I packed my whole life into two suitcases and flew to California.  I grew up in Dubai with my mother and two sisters. After my parents’ divorce, my mother took complete responsibility for us and decided that I should go to school in the United States so that I could pursue a better education and build an independent life for myself, just like we both wanted. My personality comes from her resilience. In South Asian culture, it is uncommon for young women to move abroad for their studies. My mother married at a young age and gave birth to me around the same age I am now. She was determined to break that generational curse.  I arrived in the United States with no friends or family. Everything from opening a bank account to cooking a meal was foreign to me. I began my studies at De Anza College, then transferred to UC Berkeley in spring 2025. The second I received my acceptance letter to Berkeley, I knew I had to go. I called my mother immediately and, even though it was 4 a.m. for her, she celebrated with me. Berkeley’s acceptance was the culmination of what we both had worked for. Berkeley pushed me to find spaces where I could truly belong and contribute to. I joined the Muslim Tech Collaborative, where I was president for the 2025-26 academic year and I became the international student-appointed officer for the University of California Student Association. Berkeley also gave me tools to express my thoughts without feeling intimidated because I know the people around me are just as determined to grow. I’ve been privileged to be surrounded by future leaders. As a political economy major, I’m interested in how politics, culture and economics shape everyday life and affect societies in different communities.  After graduation, I plan on staying in the Bay Area and working at a startup in San Francisco; I hope to one day also work at the United Nations in international policymaking. I’ve worked hard the past four years building a life for myself in California and I’m excited to continue to grow, taking Berkeley’s mindset with me. More linked in bio: https://bit.ly/4eIdwW4  Grad photos courtesy of @812visions #UCBerkeley #CalGrad

Charles Huang ’93 immigrated to California from Taiwan when he was a child, and his journey reflects the promise of public higher education. After graduating from Berkeley with a degree in economics and Asian studies, he worked in his father’s business and gained manufacturing expertise through factory tours in Taiwan and China. In the dot-com boom, Huang and his brother Kai ‘94 launched RedOctane in 1999. The company was initially the world’s first online video game rental service, but it grew to offer premium gaming accessories. He is the co-creator of Guitar Hero, the best-selling video game in the world in 2007 and 2008. @activision acquired RedOctane in 2006. Huang continually pays forward his Berkeley education. He was a past chair of the UC Berkeley Foundation and co-chair of the Light the Way campaign. Beyond Berkeley, Huang serves on boards of directors and as an adviser to many startups, venture funds, and nonprofit orgs. Huang is this year’s recipient of the Berkeley Founders Award, which celebrates an alum or friend who has given long-term distinguished leadership and service to a broad range of academic, athletic, philanthropic, and other programs across the university. The award will be presented at this year’s Berkeley Charter Gala later this month. #UCBerkeley #AchievementAwards #CalAlumStory

UC Berkeley is the birthplace of a long line of world-changing computing technologies.  The College of Computing, Data Science, and Society supports a diverse array of researchers and scholars who are not only developing cutting-edge new computing and AI technologies, but also harnessing the power of these technologies to provide ethical solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.  Opening in time for the fall semester, the Barbara and Gerson Bakar Gateway building will bring these efforts together in a beautiful and functional new space, creating a dedicated campus hub for AI-driven discovery and interdisciplinary collaboration. 
“What I’m most excited about is how the Gateway will bring different fields together and make collaboration much more seamless,” said Rose Niousha, a third-year Ph.D. student and co-president of the Computer Science Graduate Entrepreneurs student group. “For me, that means faster iteration from research ideas to collaboration and real-world applications, and more opportunities to connect my work in human-centered AI with people across domains.” 🔗 Full story linked in bio: https://bit.ly/4fjqrxO #UCBerkeley #AI

For his honors thesis, Charles Long wanted to know about power and prisons: “What happens when people are placed in supportive roles instead of positions of power and domination?”  Drawing on both his own and others’ experiences, he concluded that empathy is a skill that must be practiced.  “Like any other muscle, if you don’t use it, it atrophies.” Long, 43, has overcome many obstacles that “could have soured him,” as one of his professors explained. He graduated from Milpitas High School, but an arrest right before he was supposed to leave for the Navy to study nuclear engineering changed the course of his life. Though he maintains his innocence, this triggered a multi-year cycle in and out of jail. Once his parole ended, Long wanted to start anew. He was “surviving,” he said. But after his daughter was born, he wanted to do more. This led him to Berkeley.  “Every day is a new opportunity. Every minute is a new opportunity. Every second is an opportunity,” Long said.  Inspired by his parents’ perseverance and motivated by the example he wanted to set for his daughter, Long sought to use his experience to improve the lives of others. He returned to the Bay Area and embraced Berkeley. Sociology and social welfare put into words many of the things Long had observed in his life. He came to see social systems in a new light — as well as the ways to change them.

“Through academia, I’ve learned to make sense of both the systems around me and the experiences that shaped me,” he said. “But more importantly, I’ve learned to affect them.” Today, Long works with Underground Scholars, a campus program supporting formerly incarcerated and system-impacted students. He also joined the Teach in Prison program, tutoring incarcerated men at San Quentin, and became a leader in Incarceration to College, mentoring justice-involved youth in Bay Area juvenile halls.

“It just makes me feel like I’m fulfilling my purpose,” Long said.

See his full story at the link in bio: https://bit.ly/42zrd2j  #UCBerkeley #CalGrad

One more day down, one more day closer to the big day 🎓 Graduating Bears: If you haven’t seen it already, here’s what you need to know about the campuswide ceremony this weekend. We’ll see you there! #UCBerkeley #CalGrad #Graduation #Commencement Video description: A series of slides with instructions and tips for any grad participating in UC Berkeley’s Campuswide Spring Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 16. Information includes check-in, road closures, ADA accommodations, and a basic run-of-show for the ceremony and after the ceremony.

The University Medal is the highest honor given to a graduating senior at UC Berkeley. Candidates must have achieved a GPA of 3.96 or higher while overcoming significant challenges and making a positive impact on others’ lives. Each finalist who was considered for the 2026 University Medal embodies UC Berkeley’s core values: remarkable academic achievement and a deep commitment to public service. This year, these four come from the realms of science. Two work in fields related to space exploration. One has applied bioengineering to conditions of hearing loss, and another has led initiatives to improve care for vision-impaired people, seniors and those with substance abuse disorders. Although not selected as this year’s University Medalist, the university recognizes the finalists’ outstanding achievements and dedication to serving the public. This year’s finalists are: Madeleine Bardy, BS Aerospace Engineering ‘26 Emma Berman, BS Bioengineering; BA Spanish and Portuguese, with a focus on Spanish linguistics ‘26 Eli Gendreau-Distler, BA Astrophysics, BA physics and BA Applied Mathematics ‘26 Mye Pinmada Makornwattana, BA Molecular and Cell Biology ‘26 Full story at the link in our bio: https://bit.ly/4u1u2Fl #UCBerkeley #UniversityMedal #CalGrad

And all of a sudden, the time had flown by 🤧 Spring Commencement is this weekend! Grads, are you ready to take the next step into your future? #UCBerkeley #CalGrad Video description: A series of clips set to soft music of different points in time, including shots of the Campanile, Cal Memorial Stadium, and Doe Library. Other shots include Cal Band, Rally Comm, and Cal Cheer team at different events on campus. Text on screen says “And suddenly, ‘in a few years’ turned into ‘this weekend,’” referencing Spring Commencement happening this weekend.