In memory of Donald Voet (BS '60), the Voet family generously supports a range of initiatives to make science more accessible to students from all backgrounds.

For more than 50 years, biochemists Judith Voet and her late husband, Don, jointly championed STEM education. In addition to spending decades teaching in the classroom, the couple co-wrote seminal textbooks, including Biochemistry, and co-edited the journal Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. In 2012, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) honored the couple with its ASBMB Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education.

Don recalled fondly his time as an undergraduate chemistry major at Caltech, which included taking a course taught by Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling, and remained avidly engaged with the Institute throughout his life. Over the years, he and Judy made generous gifts to support Caltech's research, including funds to support the Molecular Observatory’s access to Stanford's synchrotron radiation beam line and to endow the Donald Voet and Jerome Vinograd Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF).

Before his death last year, Don asked Judy to continue their tradition of philanthropy in his absence by making a generous donation to Caltech. But he left the specifics up to Judy. She knew that she wanted part of the gift to support the Voet Molecular Observatory Research Fund as well as the Donald Voet and Jerome Vinograd SURF, as these programs were near to Don’s heart.

The couple already had provided for the Institute in their estate planning. With Don's passing, Judy consulted with her children, Wendy and Doug, who both work in higher education. The family decided to honor his wishes by accelerating the bequest through annual donations that could impact students immediately. They chose two additional areas: investing in Caltech's outreach programs for local middle and high school students through the endowed Donald and Judith Voet CTLO Fund, and establishing the Donald and Judith Voet Family Scholarship, a need-based scholarship fund that supports students in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.

"We expanded how we were going to donate in a way that my children and I and Don could all be satisfied with: supporting the science and the people who do the science and the pipeline for scientists," says Judy.

The Voets in Palau

Bridging the Gap: Science Outreach in Local Communities

Having fallen in love with chemistry as a small child experimenting with baking soda and vinegar, Judy understands the importance of introducing kids to science early on. "You have to reach them before they get locked into other things," she says.

The Caltech Center for Teaching, Learning, and Outreach (CTLO) has a wide range of initiatives aimed at doing just that—inspiring elementary, middle, and high school students to envision themselves in STEM, while allowing Caltech students a chance to develop mentorship skills.

"We’ve developed a menu of programs to facilitate connections with students in the community," says Mitch Aiken, associate director of educational outreach for CTLO. These include Science Nights and chemistry demos at local schools, with a focus on schools that have a high proportion of lower-income students and students who are underrepresented in STEM fields. According to Aiken, approximately 65 percent of Pasadena Unified School District students are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

Inspiring the Next Generation of Scientists

In 2022, at the urging of a school counselor, Pasadena High School student Nolan Romero participated in the CTLO’s Planet Finder Academy, which teaches kids foundational astronomy skills. Romero says that he was apprehensive about signing up. "I liked the idea of astronomy and science, looking at the stars, but there's a lot of math and more that goes into it. And when I started high school, I took physics and it was one of my worst subjects."

He ended up enjoying the experience so much that he went on to participate in the CTLO’s Summer Research Connection, which brings high school students onto the Caltech campus to conduct research alongside Caltech faculty, graduate students, and postdocs, with accompanying programming to support participants’ exploration of STEM research.

"Through this opportunity with Caltech, I’ve come to love astronomy and astrophysics," says Romero, now a senior. "These are things that really interest me now, that I want to major in, and not just get a bachelor’s but a master’s and PhD."

Thanks to the new Donald and Judith Voet CTLO Fund endowment, Aiken says he can plan more programs like the Summer Research Connection in the long term.

"The Voets’ gift is really exciting, as it’s helping to build a pool of money that assures we can go forward with these programs, so when we promise a local school that we will be there every week, we can deliver on that," Aiken says.

Judy hopes that her family’s gifts will widen the pool of students who are interested in STEM.

"Without a pipeline of kids who become interested in science, everybody's going to go into finance," Judy says. "Science is a really important aspect of our progress and our standard of living and also our way of looking at the world."

Asked what she thinks Don would like his legacy at the Institute to be, Judy says, "Don would be happy just to know that he was able to give back for his education. He loved his four years at Caltech. He blossomed there."