Professor Bruce Rickborn received his B.A. from UC Riverside (Charter Student, 1956), and the Ph.D. degree from UCLA (1960), where he worked with Nobel Laureate Donald J. Cram. After two years on the Berkeley faculty, he transferred to Santa Barbara in 1962. Author or co-author of 90 research papers and one book, he points to his continuing warm relationships with over 30 Ph.D. students who obtained degrees under his direction as his most important contribution to science. He has been an A.P. Sloan Fellow, an NSF Senior Postdoctoral Fellow (MPI, Mulheim/Ruhr), and a Fulbright Senior Lecturer (U. Nacional, Bogota). In addition to teaching at all levels, he was drawn into administration in the turbulent times of the late 1960's, eventually serving as Dean of Letters & Science from 1973-1978, where he worked closely with Vice Chancellor Alec Alexander and Chancellor Vernon Cheadle. Dr. Rickborn served the campus and the University in several senate roles, including the Committee on Research and the Review of UC Administration of Weapons Labs, as well as serving on the Board of the Faculty Club for a number of years. Dr. Rickborn retired in 2001 after 39 years of service to the department of Chemistry at UC Santa Barbara. The establishment of the Bruce Rickborn-Ross Johnson Endowed Graduate Fellowship Fund at UC Santa Barbara is intended to honor and celebrate Dr. Rickborn and his tremendous impact on the department and its students, while enabling the department to attract top-notch graduate students.

Dr. M. Ross Johnson received his B.S. Degree in Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley (1967) and Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara (1970). He is a named inventor on more than 100 U.S. Patents, co-author of more than 50 publications and chapters, and has over 100 invited and abstracted presentations covering drug therapies useful for a wide range of diseases.