Online Exclusives

Rachelle Gold receiving the University of North Carolina's Board of Governors' 2026 Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Rachelle Gold

Rachelle Gold ’02 writes, “I won a 5-year $500,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to create an oral history archive of Black women justice-seekers who are alumnae of North Carolina Central University (NCCU), where I have taught English, Composition, African American Literature, World Literature, and Grammar since 2008. So far, I have trained 80 students […]

Jill Bronfman and the front jacket of Second Cities

Jill Bronfman

Jill Bronfman ’89 writes, “I’m excited to share that I have a new book available for pre-sales, Second Cities, which is a beautifully-illustrated slim volume of narrative poems that I wrote about the less-traveled cities of the world. Second Cities is a book of poems that takes a sideways glance at the world. “Second City” […]

The front jacket of Strategic Direction from the President

John Godwin

John Godwin‘s book, Strategic Direction from the President: A Century of US Foreign Policy, 1915-2015, was released on September 3.

Neal Fandek

Neal Fandek

Neal W. Fandek ’81 has published Native American Monuments of Missouri: A History & Guide, a journey of 10,000 years (Arcadia Publishing). It’s a history of the long Native American presence in the state, starting with the ancient, advanced civilizations who built great monuments throughout Missouri and the Midwest. These people built giant cities long […]

The front jacket of The Periodical Life of Modernity: Sonzogno's First Century (1804-1909)

Silvia Valisa

Silvia Valisa, PhD ’07, published a new book on the construction of modern Italian culture. The Periodical Life of Modernity: Sonzogno’s First Century (1804-1909), published by University of Toronto Press in 2026, focuses on Milan-based publisher Sonzogno. The book examines the technological and innovations at the heart of the new periodical market, and their importance […]

Marlene Muraco

Marlene Muraco

Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has appointed William H. Ng and Marlene S. Muraco ’88 as office managing shareholders (OMS). Ng takes the reins from longtime OMS John T. Bauer in Long Island, N.Y. while Muraco succeeds Robert J. Wilger in San Jose, Calif., both of whom will continue […]

The front jacket of Sublime Dissonance by Kennedy (Ken) Richardson

Kennedy (Ken) Richardson

Kennedy (Ken) Richardson ’71 reports that his debut novel, Sublime Dissonance (Vanguard Press, Feb. 26, 2026) just received a favorable review in this month’s issue of the Historical Novels Review (Issue 117, pp. 31-32, August 2026). Here is a link to the review. The novel is about the lives of German and German-American musicians and […]

The front jacket of Mr. Prynne by J.A. Gray

J. A. Gray

J. A. Gray ’72 grew up in Berkeley (and lives here still), and he remains ever grateful to Cal (“the university next door”) for providing him with two years in the Tussman Experimental College Program, followed by two years of Classical studies in Latin and Greek (“Great teachers were the rule at Cal, not the […]

The front jacket of Véronique Pittolo's Hélène mode d'emploi

Laura Mullen

Laura Mullen ’84 is finishing her translation of Véronique Pittolo’s 10th book, Hélène mode d’emploi, published by Al Dante in 2008. The translation is forthcoming from Black Square Editions in 2027. Find an excerpt in the latest Asymptote and look for forthcoming work in Tripwire and Fence. Very timely, this take on the Helen of […]

David Stronach with a jeep in the desert

Sabrina Maras

Sabrina Maras, PhD ’09, has just published David Stronach and British Archaeology in the Middle East, a biography of the late Berkeley professor of archaeology, through Bloomsbury UK. Sabrina first met David while working toward her PhD in ancient Near Eastern archaeology at UC Berkeley. She found that the excavation stories with which David peppered […]

A woman holds a clapperboard in front of a camera on the set of The Pitt. From Inside The Pitt (HBO Max)

Down in The Pitt

By H.J. Valerio

How Emmy-nominated production designer Nina Ruscio built an ER that feels real

Abstract landscape with a glowing path leading to a sound wave. AI-generated illustration

From Thought to Voice

By Hussain Khan

How a UC Berkeley and UCSF partnership is giving people who lost speech to stroke and paralysis a way to speak again

Kirk Tramble

Kirk Tramble

Kirk Tramble ’93, Founder and Principal of Kizata LLC, has been appointed to the Foundation for California Community Colleges Board of Directors following the unanimous approval by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors. He will serve a four-year term from July 2026 through June 2030. Tramble is a technology and artificial intelligence (AI) leader […]

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Jane Clare Upp

Jane Clare Upp ’94 writes: “We wore bobby socks and saddle shoes. We were career determined when we joined Dean Griffin’s Journalism class in 1946. We, Joan from Piedmont and me from Bakersfield were alone in a class of males, which Dean Griffin preferred (not us). Joan wanted to be a reporter and I wanted […]

Cruz smiles

Dana Cruz

Dana Cruz ’13 was named one of Comstock’s Magazine’s 2026 Young Professionals, recognizing emerging leaders making a meaningful impact across California’s Capital Region. The son of Filipino immigrants and a first-generation college student, Cruz credits UC Berkeley with amplifying his curiosity, drive, and sense of public purpose that have since guided his career. Cruz serves […]

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Chip Robertson

Chip Robertson ’94 is honored to be appointed to the UC Board of Regents.

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Andy Becker

Award-winning alum, lawyer-turned-writer Andy Becker ’76 explores the humanity, heartbreak, and humor hidden behind the legal system in The Paralegal Speaks. Drawing on more than three decades of legal experience, Becker delivers a witty and insightful satirical novel about the people behind the cases—and the paralegal who sees it all. He takes readers beyond courtroom […]

Book cover

Mary Fontana

Mary Fontana, Ph.D.’12 published her first book, Strangers in the Province of Joy: Practicing Radical Hospitality on the US-Mexico Border (Orbis Books) in May 2026. This nonfiction narrative follows the compelling journeys of individuals in order to illustrate the complex forces driving immigration across the US-Mexico border over the last half-century.