Gift, movie highlight brain scientist’s legacy

Berkeley brain scientist Marian Diamond may be best remembered by the general public for carrying a real human brain around in a hat box during her 55 years on campus. Alumnus Ron Hammer, however, remembers Diamond for sparking his lifelong interest in neurobiology and for mentoring him as a student researcher in her lab.

Now Hammer, who graduated in 1974 and is a professor at the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine, and his spouse, geriatric neuropsychiatrist Sandra Jacobson, have given $2 million to mark Diamond’s lasting legacy in neuroscience. The gift will establish an endowed fund for the Marian C. Diamond and Arnold B. Scheibel Chair in Neuroscience, in honor of both Diamond and her husband, a retired neuroscientist at UCLA.