Chemistry News

Pomona College’s Commencement ceremony May 17 capped off a weekend of celebrations and sent the Class of 2026 off with a charge to “go forth from this stellar garden of Pomona College, believing in your power to make this world shine bright.”

As Commencement approaches on May 17, we highlight six members of the Class of 2026. We asked what brought them to Pomona, what their most meaningful experiences and accomplishments were, and what the future holds for them.

Pomona College juniors Charles Brainin ’27 and Ryan Mooney ’27 have been awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for the 2026-27 academic year. 

Sebastian Kinzie ’26 is the ninth Pomona student to win a Churchill Scholarship for study at Cambridge University. In a master’s program over the next year, he will conduct research as part of a lab in the Churchill College Department of Chemistry.

To celebrate Veterans Day, Trevor Bwanika ’28 and Andres Jacobo ’28 share their respective paths to Claremont, plans for their time here and how Pomona is preparing them for the next chapter of their lives.

Many of these awards come from programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF), with others from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), other public agencies, and private philanthropic foundations.

Pomona College welcomes 15 new faculty to tenure-track and tenured positions this fall. Six taught at the College previously, including an alumna. The other nine are newcomers.

Since 2023, the Beckman Scholarship has been awarded to one Pomona student who has already had significant research experience and another who has demonstrated strong promise for research.

Seven members of the Class of 2025 were awarded the Rena Gurley Archibald High Scholarship Prize at Commencement on May 18. The prize is given to seniors drawn from the list of students with perfect GPAs.

Michell Mamombe ’27 has first-hand knowledge of hurdles girls in her hometown of Gweru, Zimbabwe, face to realize their potential and seeks to remove some of those obstacles starting this summer.