On October 12, 2018, the Cal Alumni Association (CAA) and UC Berkeley hosted the Volunteer Awards at Alumni House. Awardees are members of the UC Berkeley community who have made significant contributions to the Berkeley community through volunteer service.
Adena Ishii ’14 and Nanxi Liu ’12 were both awarded the Sather Gate Young Volunteer Award for their leadership and service to the campus and community. When Ishii was at Cal, she launched and ran the Transfer Service Community, a program that facilitates relationships between Cal students and incoming transfer students to connect transfer students with resources and opportunities on campus. After graduation, Ishii became deeply involved in local politics in the Berkeley community. Ishii currently works at the Alameda County District Attorney’s office and maintains her connection to campus through mentorship and community-building.
At Cal, Liu founded Nanoly Bioscience, which develops polymers that do not require the refrigeration of vaccines and other molecules. Liu has since founded a second company, Enplug, and also served on her Class of 2012 reunion committee, donating to the campaign and encouraging her classmates to make gifts and return to campus with her.
Three alumni—Cynthia So Schroeder ’91, Robin S. Chandra ’88, and Charlene Conrad Liebau ’60—all received the Spirit of 1868 Volunteer Award for their contributions in support of Berkeley’s philanthropic work.
Schroeder, past president of the Cal Alumni Association, past member of the UC Berkeley Foundation Trustees and president of several alumni associations at Cal and the University of California, has devoted countless hours to support Cal as a volunteer, leader, advocate, and donor.
Chandra was instrumental in growing the university’s endowment funds. He and his wife are also Builders of Berkeley, donors who have given over $1 million to campus. Their most notable gift is the Chandra Research Fellows program, which works to expand undergraduate research in the College of Letters & Science.
Liebau was honored for her leadership on the UC Berkeley Library Board, refocusing the board’s fundraising efforts and fostering relationships between the UC Berkeley Library, donors, and the Cal community.
The Chinese Chapter of the Cal Alumni Association received the Loyal Company Outstanding Volunteer Group Award in recognition of their long-standing relationship with, and in support of, the university. The chapter first began as a student club in 1913 to support the Chinese American students at Cal. Currently with more than 2,000 members, the chapter not only raises scholarship funds, but also raised $500,000 to fund the construction of the Tien Center and C.V. Starr East Asian Library.
The final award of the evening went to Adnan Shihab-Eldin ’65, M.S. ’67, Ph.D. ’70. Shihab-Eldin received the Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award for his extensive work in furthering scientific research in his native country of Kuwait, in addition to holding other positions and responsibilities in Amsterdam and Berkeley.
The Cal Alumni Association is proud to honor and celebrate with the larger Berkeley community all of these Cal graduates and their incredible achievements.
