A parasite expert, Facebook privacy adviser and legal startup mogul are among 19 UC Berkeley-affiliated individuals to make the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, an amalgamation of 600 game-changing individuals hailing from 20 diverse fields.
The fifth annual list, published earlier this month, is a compilation of the country’s “most important young entrepreneurs, creative leaders and brightest stars,” according to Forbes’ announcement of the honorees. Those who make the prestigious list are nominated by Forbes reporters and selected by a panel of judges situated in the honorees’ respective career concentrations.
Kevin Chan, Dipayan Ghosh, Colin Carlson and Joe Mornin — all Forbes honorees with ties to UC Berkeley — spoke to The Daily Californian about the experiences they’ve had at UC Berkeley and how these lessons have contributed to their success in the world beyond campus.
Chan — 25-year-old founder of MadeRight, a consulting business that helps fashion designers ensure that their clothing is manufactured ethically — was a business administration and computer science double major at UC Berkeley. Chan attributes his postgraduation success to Ericka Lutz, his professor for the campus business communications class UGBA 100.
“I never thought I’d be able to speak in front of a group before taking Business Communication with Professor Lutz — the final presentation exposed me to presenting in front of 100+ people,” Chan said in an email. “I’ve since gone on to do several speaking engagements to audiences of 500+.”
Ghosh, 27, who studied electrical engineering and computer sciences, was inspired by his professor and mentor Shankar Sastry, who previously worked in the Information Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the U.S. Department of Defense.
Ghosh worked in the White House as an adviser on technology and economic policy and was later hired by Facebook, where he is now a privacy and public policy adviser. He is also a postdoctoral scholar at the UC Berkeley School of Information.
After 19-year-old Carlson completed his undergraduate education at the University of Connecticut by the age of 15, he continued to pursue his education at UC Berkeley as a doctoral candidate in the environmental science, policy and management department. He was recognized by Forbes for his research in the field of conservation biology, in which he studies the effect of climate change on parasites.
As a campus graduate student instructor, he said he is inspired by not only his adviser, researcher Wayne Getz, but also by his “intelligent students, (who) push me to really think about what teaching styles I learned from most as an undergrad. I try to emulate that here” at UC Berkeley, he said.
He most recently co-authored a paper titled “Paradigms for Parasite Conservation” in the journal Conservation Biology about disease ecology and how parasites play an integral role in ecosystems. The paper explains how parasites are not always deleterious to human health.
UC Berkeley School of Law alumnus Mornin, 28, was recognized for his app BestLaw. It is a free platform that allows lawyers to access legal research more efficiently and hastens processes that take long periods of time, such as automating Bluebook-style citations.
“It’s hard to do great things on your own,” he said of his studies at UC Berkeley. “It’s much better to collaborate with people who believe in the same things you do.”
