April 2026 – Scientists Talk Funny

Mike Garland (BA ’72) donates to Berkeley Physics to give back to the university that helped change his life. In addition to supporting the Michael M. Garland Chair in Physics since 2008, he and his wife, Gigi Coe, recently founded the Shining Lights Program—providing leadership training to women-identifying graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in Berkeley’s mathematical and physical sciences.

“I’ve always felt women are equally capable, if not more so, than men. But there aren’t enough of them in leadership positions, especially in the physical sciences,” Garland says. “We wanted to elevate women to become more successful leaders by providing diverse leadership coaching and networking.”

Garland and Coe initiated and funded the program, with the enthusiastic support of Dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences Steve Kahn and Assistant Dean of Development Maria Hjelm. However, Shining Lights was run by Berkeley Physics Associate Professor Gabriel Orebi Gann.

“All the credit goes to Gabriel. She grabbed the idea and ran with it. And she understands better than us what content these women need, including critical soft skills like working with an actor to learn a power stance,” says Garland.

The success of the program was clear at the graduation this spring. One thrilled graduate’s mother flew out for the ceremony. Former Chancellor Carol Christ came back to give an inspiring speech. And several graduates spoke about how the program had already made a difference in their lives.

“I was amazed at the level of camaraderie and enthusiasm at the graduation. They really lit up about the relationships they’ve developed with each other,” says Garland. “The joyful, formal celebration really showed that Berkeley was the right place for Shining Lights.”

“As far as we are concerned, the first year of Shining Lights was an enormous success. We hope to see it build and grow, maybe into other areas in science,” adds Coe. “And we may need to add additional training for young scientists to navigate these turbulent times.”

This is a reposting of my magazine alumni story, courtesy of UC Berkeley’s 2025 Berkeley Physics Magazine.

Larry Leinweber has been intrigued by science ever since he was a young child growing up on a farm in rural Michigan. After success as a software entrepreneur, he founded the Leinweber Foundation to support impactful research and expand STEM education access to students from underserved areas.

The Leinweber Foundation just made a transformative gift of over $100 million for theoretical physics research across seven top institutions: University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study.

“I’ve had a lifelong fascination with theoretical physics. It fuels our understanding of how the world works and opens doors to groundbreaking discoveries,” says Larry Leinweber. “We wanted to provide a gift with heft to help keep the U.S. at the forefront of physics research.”

These funds will foster independent research at each institution, while also creating a network for cross-institutional collaboration among faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students.

The Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics will be renamed the Leinweber Institute for Theoretical Physics at Berkeley and will include four new postdoctoral Leinweber Physics Fellows.

“As the future of research and innovation, postdocs provide a lot of enthusiasm and new ideas. Our endowed fellowships will allow Berkeley to attract top young talent and give them the ‘free-range’ autonomy to pursue bold, long-term research,” says Larry Leinweber.

In addition, the gift supports a new kind of collaboration between the theoretical physicists at the seven institutions in the Leinweber network, who will meet periodically to tackle fundamental questions and identify emerging research ideas.

“Each individual research program may be solving one piece of a problem, but increased collaboration will allow them to see the bigger picture and accelerate discovery,” says Ashley Leinweber, Vice President of the Leinweber Foundation.

This is a reposting of my magazine story, courtesy of UC Berkeley’s 2025 Berkeley Physics Magazine.