Chance Bowman, a PhD student in the joint UCSF/UC Berkeley program, was recently named a 2025 Hertz Fellow by the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation. He joins 18 other doctoral students working in applied science, engineering and mathematics at research institutions across the U.S. who have been selected for their potential to pursue solutions to some of the world's most urgent challenges.
Chance earned a bachelor's degree in biological chemistry from Dartmouth College, where he researched the protein biochemistry and structural biology of bacterial virulence factors. He was also a founding member of the Dartmouth Undergraduate Biology Society, serving as a senior peer mentor and helping students join research labs. In his PhD and beyond, Chance aims to uncover the design principles of biological systems, both to understand how organisms develop and to create advanced cell therapies.
Learn more about Chance and the Hertz Fellowship.
First awarded in 1960, the Hertz Fellowship provides the nation's most promising graduate students in science and technology with five years of funding, valued at up to $250,000, and the research freedom to pursue innovative ideas with real-world impact.
Since inception, the foundation has named more than 1,200 Hertz Fellows, including current UCSF student Madeleine "Maddie" Urbanek and UCSF alums Lila Neahring, PhD ’23, Reuben Saunders, PhD, ’24, David Breslow, PhD ’10, Maya Overland, MD, PhD ’16, and Melanie Smith, MD, PhD ’16.
Applications for the 2026 Hertz Fellows cohort will be accepted in fall 2025.