| 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 Oslo 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.) |
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| An official Nobel Peace Prize gold medal is seen at the exhibition at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo. (Anadolu / Anadolu via Getty Images) |
| 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 Naghi, a chemist born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. (This comes as a Trump-backed peace plan in Gaza moves forward.) Naghi'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 Naghi, 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." |
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| This combination of images shows the winners of the 2025 Nobel Prize in physics: John Martinis, Michel H. Devoret and John Clarke. (Mark J. Terrill; Harold Shapiro via AP; University of California, Berkeley via AP/ Associated Press) |
| Along with two scientists from Japan and Australia, Naghi 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." |
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| President Trump listens during an event in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) |
| 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 loathes. 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 |
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| (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times) |
The Dodgers advance to the National League Championship Series |
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Crime, courts and policing |
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California legislation and elections |
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Yesteryear's California back in the spotlight |
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More big stories |
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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 |
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For your weekend |
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| (Jules Monstera) |
Going out |
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Staying in |
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| 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 |
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