#SoCaltech: David Cagan

Self-portrait made from recycled paper cutouts, David Cagan

“I think that art is actually a way to see the world. I did a lot of visual art and portraiture. I would think about how I see people, portray them, and train my eye. But after taking my first chemistry course, I realized chemistry was a new dimension to the world that I had never seen. It revealed and unlocked to me something about life that was always there that I never knew. And for me, that was a very artistic process. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, inanimate objects are not so inanimate after all. They’re dynamic. They’re moving. There’s chemical equilibrium, our bodies, everything is all in motion and moving and alive.’”

David Cagan, a graduate student in chemistry at Caltech, was originally an art student at Pasadena City College (PCC). After taking a required chemistry course, he switched disciplines and ultimately completed a B.S. in chemistry from Cal State Los Angeles. He founded the Rising Tide program at Caltech to introduce PCC students to scientific research and help them discover new ways of looking at the world.

#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.