Community Member Milestones
- Welcome to Caltech:
Chris Kalaw
Chris joined Caltech as the new recycling and materials coordinator in October 2024. In this role, he is helping to manage the Institute’s recycling program and prioritize cost-effective, local, and sustainable purchases. Chris also works at USC as a sustainability assistant and holds a BS in public health.
- Celebrating a promotion:
Lauren Breeyear
On April 7, 2025, Lauren was promoted to division chair assistant and faculty affairs manager in the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering (BBE). She has been with BBE since 2016, first as the divisional events coordinator and then options manager for computation and neural systems and neurobiology. In her new role, Lauren will manage, direct, and oversee all administrative functions for the division chair’s office and faculty affairs.
- Celebrating a promotion:
Christopher Barragan
In April 2025, Christopher was promoted to director of the Center for Student Success, a new office designed to integrate student support services including Caltech Accessibility Services for Students (CASS) and the CARE team, where Christopher formerly served as the case manager. Under Christopher’s leadership, the new center will ensure that these programs and their associated staff members are effectively coordinated to provide all students with the resources they need to achieve their goals at Caltech and beyond.
- Welcome to Caltech:
Michael Soriano
Michael joined Caltech as director of hotel operations at The Athenaeum on April 28, 2025. Michael previously served as director of housekeeping at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, and he brings extensive experience in high-end hotel services at various various properties throughout California, including Napa, Hollywood, downtown Los Angeles, and Beverly Hills.
- Celebrating a promotion:
Vincent Ton
Vincent has been promoted to program manager in the Student-Faculty Programs (SFP) Office in April 2025. In this expanded role, Vincent will manage SFP’s communication strategies and build upon mentoring opportunities while continuing to work closely with all students, faculty, staff, and campus partners to deliver impactful undergraduate research experiences for those at the Institute.
- Welcome (back) to Caltech:
Vivian U
Vivian U (BS ’06) joined Caltech as an associate scientist at IPAC in February 2025, where she has taken up the role of the proposal team lead for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Previously, Vivian was an assistant astronomer at UC Irvine, where she led a research group that studied black hole–galaxy co-evolution with the James Webb Space Telescope and the Keck Observatory telescopes.