Award-winning film director and Caltech alum Frank Capra (BS '18) once said, "A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something." In October, the MacArthur Foundation clearly had a hunch about another alumnus, organic chemist Melanie Sanford (PhD '01), who received one of their prestigious MacArthur Fellowships, an award that provides unrestricted funds to "talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction."

Caltech alum E. William (Bill) Colglazier, PhD '71, has been appointed Science and Technology Adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Colglazier retired last month from his positions as executive officer of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and chief operating officer of the National Research Council. 

Caltech has recognized five of its graduates with the Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor regularly bestowed by the Institute. The award acknowledges a particular achievement, a series of achievements, or a career of achievements of noteworthy value. Since its inception in 1966, the award has been granted to outstanding alumni in the sciences, engineering, business, and the arts. The 2011 recipients are Leroy E. Hood, Steven E. Koonin, Cleve B. Moler, Carolyn C. Porco, and Albert Y. C. Yu.

Narendra K. Gupta, cofounder and managing director of Nexus Venture Partners, has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).