Berkowitz is Nebraska's first American Chemical Society fellow

David Berkowitz holds a nuclear magnetic resonance tube in a lab.

Craig Chandler | University Communication and Marketing

David Berkowitz, Willa Cather Professor of chemistry, has been named a fellow of the American Chemical Society. He is the first Husker faculty member to receive the honor.

David Berkowitz, Willa Cather Professor of chemistry at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, has been named a fellow of the American Chemical Society.

The award, a first for Nebraska’s flagship, land-grant university, recognizes outstanding contribution to science, the profession and service to the organization.

“This recognition is a remarkable achievement, one that celebrates Dr. Berkowitz’s exceptional contributions to the field of chemistry,” said Chancellor Rodney D. Bennett. “It is a prestigious honor that further elevates our university’s reputation as a leading research institution.

“Acknowledgements like this highlight the outstanding caliber of our faculty and reflect our commitment to leadership in discovery and innovation.”

Berkowitz joined Nebraska’s Department of Chemistry, which is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, in 1991 and served as chair from 2013 to 2016. He is an expert in synthetic organic chemistry and chemical biology. He previously served as director of interdisciplinary therapeutics research in the Office of Research and Economic Development and as director of the National Science Foundation's chemistry division.

David Berkowitz poses with seven students (five men and three women) in a lab. — Top row (from left): graduate students Aina Antony, Gaurav Kudalkar, Chris Albert and Chathurika Usliyanage, and researcher David Berkowitz. Bottom row (from left): undergraduate Lauren Moon, graduate students Jared Hass and Jonathan Baine, and postdoctoral fellow Martin Osinde.

“It has been a privilege to work with a very talented group of undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows here in the Department of Chemistry for my entire career,” Berkowitz said. “Their cutting-edge research at the chem-bio interface is recognized by this award; I am very proud of them and of this recognition.”

He currently serves as co-principal investigator of a $24.5 million project funded by the Defense Health Agency for the development of a first-of-its-kind prophylactic to help protect U.S. troops from the effects of acute radiation syndrome.

“On behalf of the college, we want to congratulate Dr. Berkowitz on this outstanding recognition,” said Mark Button, dean of the college. “We are pleased that the state of Nebraska’s first ACS fellow is part of our college.”

Berkowitz has received numerous awards and honors, including the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in 1997 and a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship in 2008. He is a member of the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has served as a visiting professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology and University of Rouen and Paris-V in France.

Berkowitz was nominated by Scott Gilbertson of the University of Houston on behalf of the Division of Organic Chemistry at ACS, with supporting letters from Theodore “Ted” Goodson III of the University of Michigan and Raychelle Burks of American University.

Berkowitz is among 37 fellows who will be recognized at the society’s ACS Fall 2024 meeting in Denver.