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Join us in honoring Dr. Sommerfeld's legacy and achievements at ASU
Your support will ensure that Dr. Sommerfeld's passion, the study of algae, continues to flourish at ASU.
The Milton Sommerfeld Fund for Algae Research was created in loving memory of Dr. Milton Sommerfeld, a brilliant scientist with a keen sense of humor and a big infectious grin that radiated his passion to all those that interacted with him. In recognition of his love for algae, teaching, research, and the advancement of students, this fund was established to continue Dr. Sommerfeld' s legacy of assisting students in their work to advance the field of algae research.
About Dr. Milton Sommerfeld
Dr. Milton Sommerfeld was a professor in the Department of Applied Biological Sciences and co-director of the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (formerly Laboratory of Algae Research and Biotechnology), served as Chair of the Department of Botany and Microbiology (1980-1988), and was Associate Dean for Research and Facilities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (1989-2004). He mentored over 60 M.S., Ph.D. and postdoctoral associates and numerous undergraduates. He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Phycological Society of America, British Phycological Society, International Phycological Society, Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, The Society of Sigma Xi and the Southwestern Association of Naturalists.
His Legacy
Appropriately dubbed “The Wizard of Ooze,” Sommerfeld illuminated the world of algae with vibrant imagery, bubbling-good humor and — if you were lucky — a mouthful of algae cookie, freshly baked by his wife, Carolyn.
Sommerfeld unlocked algae’s potential, demonstrating its boundless possibility while leaving an enduring legacy of research, both at Arizona State University and well beyond its walls.
Throughout his career and 48 year tenure as a professor, Dr. Sommerfeld kept education and research firmly at the foundation of his success. He enjoyed a career sparkling with achievements; his advancement to department chair, then to associate dean and finally to co-director of the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (AzCATI). With AzCATI, Sommerfeld envisioned a place where students could gain the knowledge necessary to become tomorrow's workforce in the expanding field of algal biotechnology, and that is precisely what it has become.
The ongoing education of students in the field of algae research was a passion of Dr. Sommerfeld that ASU is proud to support. We thank him for his service to ASU, for his mentorship of decades of students and for his commitment to education.
