After his keynote address, UC Davis Chancellor Gary May spoke with several of the students attending the BESSA/BGESS anniversary celebration. (Photos by Peg Skorpinski)

Celebrating diversity in engineering and science

Alumni panelists at the afternoon symposium discussed their experiences at UC Berkeley and offered career advice. L to R: Elmer Whitehead Jr. (B.S.’94 ME), Lorraine Fleming (Ph.D.’85 CEE), Nerayo Teclemariam (Ph.D.’07 ChemE) and Melody Ivory (Ph.D.’01 CS).With a weekend reception at Alumni House featuring UC Davis Chancellor and Berkeley Engineering alumnus Gary May (M.S.’88, Ph.D.’91 EECS), the Cal Alumni Association and the Black Alumni Club celebrated the 50th and 30th anniversaries, respectively, of the Black Engineering and Science Students Association and the Black Graduate Engineering and Science Students Association.

May, the Feb. 10 event’s keynote speaker, was one of the founders of BGESS. He served as dean of engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology before being appointed chancellor at UC Davis a year ago, and is nationally recognized as a lifelong champion of equity, diversity and inclusion in academia and industry.

Before the evening celebration, BESSA and BGESS alumni sponsored an afternoon symposium for college and high school students, with panel discussions on diversity hiring, career advice and the Berkeley experience.