Nobel Tote Board: University of California 5, Trump 0
- Share via
President Trump’s brazen campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize — and the failure of that onslaught — dominate the headlines. But it feels like the president and his many friends and enemies missed the most important lesson coming out of Stockholm this week.
I’m talking about the extraordinary showing in the sciences by researchers from the U.S. and particularly those associated with the University of California, the world’s greatest public university and also the one placed under a cloud by Trump and his minions at the Department of Education.
The Nobel judges recognized a whopping five UC researchers (some still with the university and others alums) for breakthroughs that could help produce more drinking water, absorb Earth-warming carbon, and improve cancer treatment via therapeutics connected to the wonder of so-called “T-cells.”
As a UC Berkeley graduate, I long ago made it a habit of knowing how many Nobel laureates came from our proud institution. I needed to be ready to tout that number as a sort of rebuttal every time the Golden Bears lost another football game, or some USC stud won another Heisman trophy. (In other words, often.)
Berkeley and the other spinoff (sorry, I had to say it) campuses gained world renown not only because of the kind of discoveries celebrated by the Nobel prizes this week but because of the culture of these places.
The university as a whole is far from perfect, but it still tends to lean heavily into academic freedom, thereby attracting top scholars from America and around the world. Berkeley, UCLA, UCSB, et al till the fertile soil that allows genius to grow and thrive.
How extra moving it felt this week to learn that one of the three scientists awarded the world’s most important recognition was Omar Yaghi, a chemist born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. (This comes as a Trump-backed peace plan in Gaza moves forward.) Yaghi’s father urged his son to go to America to fulfill his potential and live out his dreams; first bagging groceries and mopping floors before an academic odyssey that finally landed him in the chemistry department at Berkeley.
“My parents could barely read or write. It’s been quite a journey, science allows you to do it,” said Yaghi, suggesting a poetic parallel between his own journey and the harmony he sees in nature. “I set out to build beautiful things and solve intellectual problems.”
Along with two scientists from Japan and Australia, Yaghi won acclaim for creating porous material “that holds enormous promise for carbon capture, water harvesting, hydrogen and other clean energy storage, drug delivery and catalyzing chemical reactions,” UC said. UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons noted that such discoveries advance not just Berkeley but the “well-being of people around the world.”
The chemistry award, alone, would thrill lesser institutions. But California’s great public university also won accolades for three physicists who came together on the sunny east side of San Francisco Bay. John Clarke, now emeritus at Berkeley, won the physics prize, along with his former colleagues Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis, now at Yale University and UC Santa Barbara, respectively.
Their work laid the foundation for the bits at the heart of quantum computers, machines that view complex problems from so many perspectives that they create pathways to new drugs, essential man-made compounds and even formulas that help break through modern encryption systems.
UC scored again in physiology and medicine, where Frederick J. Ramsdell won the Nobel. He’s a UCLA grad who got his doctorate at UC San Diego, before moving on to the private sector. He joined another American and a Japanese scientist, recognized for “groundbreaking work on the human immune system.”
This stunning affirmation comes at a time when Trump and his Department of Education have launched a full-blown assault on many of America’s leading universities. UCLA has been targeted with a $1.2-billion fine and sweeping proposals to remake its policies, which the president’s team deems too “woke.”
UC President James B. Milliken has warned that the administration has put all 10 UC campuses in the crosshairs with multiple accusations. Among the allegations: that the the Irvine, Berkeley and San Francisco campuses have illegally considered race in admissions and that Jewish and other student groups felt unsafe or unwelcome at UC campuses in L.A., Davis, San Diego and Santa Barbara.
But Milliken did not say a peep this week about Trump. He merely acknowledged “work happening across the University of California every day to expand knowledge, test the boundaries of science, and conduct research that improves our lives.”
Perhaps the unspoken lesson to the president is this: Follow the example of the academics from the state you so loathe. Do the hard work of advancing humankind, for its own sake. If the peace in Gaza holds, and you relent on attacking fellow Americans, you, too, might be seriously considered for the prize you insist is rightfully yours.
Today’s top stories
The Dodgers advance to the National League Championship Series
- The Dodgers defeat the Phillies in a wild, 11th-inning instant classic to move within one step of World Series.
- Are these the real Dodgers? Why a ‘whole other level’ could emerge in the National League Championship Series.
- Opinion: Young pitcher Roki Sasaki’s playoff dominance shows why he’s the Dodgers’ future staff ace.
- Opinion: A wild finish propels the Dodgers into NLCS and past their toughest playoff test.
Crime, courts and policing
- The Los Angeles Police Department’s spokesperson resigns after U.S. attorney complains about alleged leak, sources say.
- Are they house cleaners or home burglars? Two women are accused of cleaning out homes in L.A.
- A Cal State Long Beach student was stabbed to death. His roommate charged with murder.
- Older men across L.A. County thought they had found a date. Police believe a woman who duped them had darker plans.
- A stolen cargo van loaded with $200,000 in Apple products from Arizona was found in L.A.
California legislation and elections
- Gov. Gavin Newsom signed historic housing bill to bring more density to transit hubs.
- Newsom signed multiple bills to strengthen oversight of the state’s insurer of last resort.
- Who is spending money on Proposition 50, the redistricting measure on California’s November ballot.
Yesteryear’s California back in the spotlight
- The manager of a historic California strip club in San Francisco, site of an infamous death by piano, was fatally shot.
- Opinion: A former bracero doesn’t want the labor-heavy program to return. ‘People will be treated like slaves.’
More big stories
- ‘The butt lady’ convicted of murder after second SoCal client dies from silicone injections.
- LAFD thought the Jan. 1 Palisades fire was out. It didn’t use thermal imaging to confirm.
- News analysis: Why the Gaza ceasefire puts both Netanyahu and Hamas at political risk.
- Blast at a Tennessee explosives plant leaves multiple people dead and missing, sheriff says.
- On ‘House Hunters,’ we looked Pinterest-perfect. In reality, our marriage was falling apart.
- Phoebe Robinson is done being a girl boss. But she has another comedy special for you.
This week’s must-reads
The Sixth Street Bridge, once a glowing L.A. landmark, has gone dark after copper wire theft. Repairs could cost millions ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics.
More great reads
- ‘Supplier of hope’: Downtown L.A.’s Homeboy Industries, known for gang rehabilitation, plans $100-million expansion
- She lived through the L.A. riots and now is in Chicago. She says Trump is making up urban unrest.
- Sister Jean, nun who became a national icon during Loyola Chicago’s Final Four run, dies at 106.
- ‘He fought to the end’: UCLA men’s basketball’s Skyy Clark dedicates season to his late father.
- The Trump loyalist who picked up where Musk left off with slashing federal workforce: ‘We’re having fun.’
- Opinion: As Trump’s reign implodes, tell MAGA ‘I told you so.’
- Opinion: Provocateurs are trying to use antisemitism to splinter the MAGA coalition.
For your weekend
Going out
- Pink Pony Club takeover: As artist Chappell Roan takes L.A., the city’s sapphic nightlife scene is hot to go.
- USC vs. Michigan football showdown: Trojans set out to prove they now have Big Ten brawn in key home matchup at 4:30 p.m.
- Chinese food upstart: Love Panda Express? Santa Monica’s Jade Rabbit is redefining Chinese American food.
- Hidden treasure: The 11 best thrift stores to shop for secondhand furniture in Los Angeles.
Staying in
- Television Review: Apple TV’s ‘The Last Frontier’s’ Arctic setting proves to be alluring (and deadly), time after time.
- Streaming Review: Singer, personality Victoria Beckham sheds Posh persona, gets candid about eating disorder in Netflix doc.
- Recipes: Here’s a recipe for ‘Yum Mama’ instant noodle salad with lime and fish sauce caramel.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff writer
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Diamy Wang, homepage intern
Izzy Nunes, audience intern
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
Residents rebuilding the Palisades are furious at Mayor Bass. Their champion, Councilmember Traci Park, joins the show. Hear her plan for what’s next.
When a helicopter crash killed actor Vic Morrow and two children on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie, the filmmakers called it an unforeseeable accident. An LA County Sheriff’s detective saw something else: broken laws, reckless risks, and an A-list director who ignored warnings.
LA tried selling “canned smog” & drilling mountain tunnels to fix its air. But the real cost was deadly. Hear the full story of LA’s smog war on “Smoglandia.”
