Phillip Geissler, beloved UC Berkeley professor, dies at 48 while hiking in Utah

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Phillip Geissler, beloved UC Berkeley professor, dies at 48 while hiking in Utah

Sam Whiting
July 28, 2022
Updated: July 29, 2022 12:26 a.m.



Professor Phillip Geissler teaches chemistry at UC Berkeley in 2011.

Provided by Michael H. Barnes 2011

Chem 1A is the introductory chemistry course at UC Berkeley designed to identify the freshmen who have the talent to continue on a pre-med pathway in a semester-long pressure cooker. But whenever Professor Phillip Geissler taught it, students could get at least a moment of relief when he brought in his guitar.

Standing before 500 students as if the Pimentel auditorium were a concert hall, he’d sing catchy chem-humor tunes, with titles like “The Mole Song,” and “Acids and Bases.” He’d even bring in a professional singer as a guest performer. It was the kind of extra effort that won Geissler the top campus awards in teaching. ... “Students would often say that he was the nicest professor they ever met at Cal,” said Lucie Liu, a former graduate student in chemistry who was selected to the statistical mechanics dream-team known as the Geissler Group.

In mid-July, he made a detour to Moab, Utah for a day or two of hiking on his way back from Colorado, where he gave a lecture at the Telluride Research Center. Geissler was aware of heat danger and very careful, said his partner Lauren Nakashima, so he set early in the morning of July 17. By 8 am., when he was at the visitor center, it was already 80 degrees, headed to triple digits.

When he did not check in Nakashima at home in Oakland, a search was mounted. His body was found near a trail head two days later. The cause of death is pending an autopsy, but it was suspected to be a heart attack or other sudden medical event, Nakashima said. He was 48. ... “He was overdue for a big American road trip to the wide-open landscapes to see that southwest geologic splendor that he loved,” said Rebecca Overacre, who described herself as life partner of Geissler, though he lives with Nakashima. It works for them.

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