2026 Glenn T. Seaborg Symposium & Medal Award Dinner

*Richard Kaner is presented the 2026 Seaborg Medal by Department Chair Alex Spokoyny.*

On March 13, 2026, the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry honored Professor Richard Kaner (UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry) with the prestigious 2026 Glenn T. Seaborg Medal in recognition of his seminal contributions to the field.

A symposium entitled “Materials for a Better World,” a poster session, and an evening medal award dinner were held in Kaner’s honor on campus. A Kaner group reunion, attended by more than 75 alumni, collaborators, and friends, was held in Boyer Hall the next day. The reunion included a poster session by Kaner alumni, a tour of the Kaner lab, and an Italian lunch.

*2026 Seaborg Symposium speakers (from left): Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh, Zhenan Bao, Richard Kaner, Sarah Tolbert, and Fred Wudl.*

The afternoon symposium featured talks by Kaner and four other prominent scientists: Zhenan Bao (Stanford University), Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh (The University of Sydney), Sarah Tolbert (UCLA), and Fred Wudl (University of California, Santa Barbara), and three current or former members of the Kaner group: Chris Turner (SuperMetalix, Inc.), Maher El-Kady (Nanotech, Inc.), and Brian McVerry (Silq Technologies).

*2026 Seaborg Symposium Industry speakers with Kaner (from left): Maher El-Kady, Brian McVerry, and Chris Turner.*

A panel of faculty judges, Assistant Professors Antonio Tinoco Valencia, Thomas Fay, and Patrick Wilson, selected three winners from the poster session competition: graduate students Hashim Al Khunaizi (Spokoyny group) and Sophia Uemura (Kaner group), and visiting undergraduate student researcher Ching Ching Lam (Houk group).

After the symposium, guests gathered at UCLA’s Covel Commons for a reception and medal award dinner. Following the meal, faculty judges announced the poster session winners. Professor Robin Garrell then presented a slideshow about the life of Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, for whom the medal is named. The highlight of the evening was when Department Chair Professor Alex Spokoyny presented the 2026 Glenn T. Seaborg Medal to Kaner.

After Kaner’s acceptance speech, Dr. Maher El-Kady (Ph.D. ’12), a researcher in Kaner’s group and Chief Science and Technology officer of Nanotech Energy, presented him with a 1961 issue of Time magazine featuring Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg on its cover. “In a way, it feels like a message across time—almost as if Seaborg himself is joining us tonight to recognize and celebrate Ric’s remarkable career, his impact on science, and his legacy through all of us,” El-Kady said. “Ric, on behalf of your students—past and present—it is my honor to present this to you.”

Attending the dinner were Seaborg Medalists Professors David Eisenberg (2004), Kendall Houk (2013), Fred Wudl (2014), Michael Jung (2016), William Gelbart (2017), and Juli Feigon (2023-2024).

The department gratefully acknowledges this year’s generous contributions, including a donation from symposium speaker Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh and student dinner sponsorships from Jane Valentine, Nancy and Larry Davis, William “Kibby” and Janet Stovall, and Lee Cooper.

To read more about the 2026 Seaborg events and Kaner Reunion, visit https://bit.ly/UCLASeaborg26.