For beloved professor, the honors are organic

By Jillian Tempesta

AS A STUDENT, EMILY CHISM BARKER ’98 would study organic chemistry in her sorority house where, as social chair, she would plan parties she rarely had time to attend. Instead, under the bright lights of the empty dining room, she pored over the red organic chemistry textbook written by her professor. In the sunny author’s photo, posed on the beach with her yellow Labrador retriever, Professor Paula Bruice emanated warmth and approachability — two qualities that she brought to her lectures.

“I realize now that, staring down at her photo, I attempted to emulate Dr. Bruice’s great skills and accomplishments,” Barker says. “I truly longed to match her success. She not only introduced organic chemistry to me but taught me to enjoy it.”

Stories like this poured in along with support for the Paula Bruice Scholarship in Organic Chemistry, established by three alumni to celebrate Bruice’s retirement and teaching legacy. This endowed fund supports undergraduate students who have achieved distinction in organic chemistry, with awards made to the students with the highest grades in Chemistry 109A, 109B, and 109C, the courses Bruice taught for 48 years.

Bruice joined UC Santa Barbara as a faculty member in 1971. In 1977, the Associated Students selected her as Teacher of the Year (the first time a teaching award had been given at UCSB). She is the author of “Organic Chemistry,” now in its ninth edition, and of “Essential Organic Chemistry,” in its third edition. Since 2013, Bruice has served as a trustee of the UC Santa Barbara Foundation.

Professor Paula Bruice

“Although years have passed since those midterms and exams, and learning reaction mechanisms by pushing arrows may be a dim memory, we are sure diligence, we each can flourish.”

Their letter prompted collective scholarship support — and a reunion. In May 2024, over 30 alumni from 1973 to 2011 gathered to celebrate Bruice’s retirement. The event doubled as a dedication for the Paula Yurkanis Bruice Study Hall in the Interactive Learning Pavilion. A lifelong educator, Bruice was the first donor to name a space in this new building.

“I was thrilled for the opportunity to visit with so many of my former students from different generations and discover where their lives have taken them since their time at UC Santa Barbara,” Bruice says. “It was a magical day.”

Barker brought her twin 17-year old daughters, both aspiring scientists, to the reunion. In her speech, she mentioned that her husband and four children all know about Bruice’s impact. Barker attended Tulane Medical School and is now a physician and professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Like Barker, Akshay Govind ’03 cleared the hurdle of organic chemistry with Bruice’s guidance.

“The fact that someone who was so well versed on the content but also (was) just such a well-rounded person, interested in human connection, gave me faith that you could explore both your academic and social interests,” says Govind, who credits UC Santa Barbara for preparing him for professional school at Harvard and for his career as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and professor at UCSF.

The Paula Bruice Scholarship in Organic Chemistry will continue her life’s work supporting young people in their quest to enter healthcare.

“It’s all about the culture of giving,” says Govind about his support of this scholarship. “It makes a difference to contribute to a culture where giving back is normalized. If I want UC Santa Barbara to keep doing that for students, I have to give back.”