BESAC President's Message
Hello BESAC Members and Friends!
I'm excited to address you for the first time as the new BESAC President on the 2nd anniversary of our chapter's charter. However, before expanding on BESAC's future plans and initiatives for 2021 and beyond, I'd like to take time to address a serious national issue and start by expressing our solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Speaking on behalf of myself and BESAC, we unequivocally condemn the recent rise of violent attacks against our AAPI sisters and brothers. According to the organization, Stop AAPI Hate, there have been over 3800 hate incidents against members of the AAPI community over the last year, including the horrific violence perpetrated in the Atlanta area last month. These attacks and the xenophobia, racism, and hatred that they represent cannot be tolerated. We must do our part to support anti-racist efforts and I encourage all of you to find ways to express your solidarity and common cause with the AAPI community.
For further information about what you can do to make a difference, I encourage you to visit Stop AAPI Hate.org.
Please check out our 4/15/21 Digest for more on BESAC's plans for 2021.
Miller Allen, Ph.D.
BESAC President
California Alumni Association Updates
African American Initiative Scholarship
The 3rd Annual UC Berkeley African American Initiative Scholarship Celebration was an incredible gathering of community and joy that honored our magnificent African American Initiative scholars and demonstrated a shared commitment to cultivating a campus where we all belong.
As an encore of the celebration, please enjoy the event recording, along with the slidedeck introducing our newest African American Initiative Scholarship recipients. Cal Alumni Association
Sign up to participate in the 2021 African American Initiative Scholarship selections process! Please fill out the volunteer registration form preferably by April 1 to ensure you receive the information in a timely manner.
BESAC Highlights
Your BESAC Board 2021-2023
President Emeritus - Kirk Tramble
President - Dr. Miller Allen
Vice President - Dr. Nerayo Teclemariam
Treasurer - Elmer Whitehead
Membership Officer - Shantisa Norman
Historian - Dr. Sheila Humphreys
Communications Officer - Rori Abernethy
BGESS Highlights
Go to the Berkeley Black Graduate Engineering and Science Students Facebook page for highlights and updates.
BESSA Highlights
Go to the Black Engineering and Science Student Association website for highlights and updates.
BESF Highlights
Meet Professor Dr. Grace O'Connell
Grace O'Connell is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her research is focused on soft tissue biomechanics and tissue regeneration. Specifically, her goal is to understand the mechanical function of the healthy, degenerated and injured intervertebral discs in order to develop more physiologically relevant repair strategies. Injury, through herniation, or degeneration may lead to debilitating lower back pain. Current research is focused on understanding alterations in biomechanics and tissue remodeling with degeneration and injury. Other studies are focused on using organ culture techniques to directly measure tissue remodeling and potential biological repair strategies.
Black Engineering and Science Faculty (BESF)
There is currently a historic number of Black Engineering and Science Faculty at Cal. Learn more about Black STEM faculty by checking out the Black Engineering and Science Faculty slides