Nanosys Inc. Executive Chairman and Luc Capital Partner, Larry Bock and his wife, Diane, have made a gift to the College of Chemistry, UC Berkeley campus, to establish the first endowed chair in nanotechnology.
"Nanoscience is the most important technological race in which the United States is engaged and possibly one where the U.S. may not dominate," said Bock. "By funding a chair in nanotechnology, we hope to help maintain the United States' leadership in this critical area.""From an educational standpoint, it is truly the first multidisciplinary technology that requires excellence at the convergence of chemistry, physics and life sciences -- all fields in which Berkeley has major distinction," Bock said, explaining what motivated the gift.
Founded in 2001 to commercialize the promise of nanotechnology, Nanosys Inc. is developing products that incorporate high-performance inorganic nanostructures. Among the applications they are developing are lightweight solar cells, flexible electronics, high performance fuel cells, and advanced surface coatings for medical devices.
Although neither Larry nor Diane Bock is an alumnus of Berkeley, they have become familiar with the campus' excellence through the involvement of a number of Berkeley faculty and alumni in the more than four dozen companies Larry Bock has founded, co-founded, or for which he has provided the early stage financing. Currently, Berkeley chemistry professors Paul Alivisatos and Peidong Yang serve on the Scientific Advisory Board of Nanosys Inc. Larry Bock also serves on Berkeley's College of Chemistry Advisory Board and was the keynote speaker at the groundbreaking for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Molecular Foundry.Mr. Bock was one of a dozen individuals invited to the signing of the $3.7 billion 21st Century Nanotechnology Act by President George Bush in the Oval Office. In addition, he is involved in a number of government agencies and is a member of the business advisory board and environmental, health and safety advisory board of the NanoBusiness Alliance; a member of the President's Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA); and a member of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology formed by Congressman Mike Honda and California State Controller Steven Westly.
Diane Bock, a business graduate of USC, is Director of Community Cousins, a non-profit organization that the Bocks co-founded to help break down racial barriers. Selected by former Vice President Al Gore as one of the ten outstanding grass roots efforts nationally, the organization, based in Olivenhain, CA, enables and encourages people of different races to become genuinely acquainted and develop a personal stake in one another's lives.The Larry and Diane Bock Endowed Chair in Nanotechnology is pending approval by the University of California Office of the President.