1936
Dr. Cerny is born in Montgomery, Alabama to Joseph Cerny, Jr. and Olaette Genette Cerny.
1957
Dr. Cerny receives a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mississippi.
1957
Dr. Cerny receives a postgraduate Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Manchester in England.
1961
Dr. Cerny receives a Doctor of Philosophy in nuclear chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, where he serves as an assistant professor of chemistry.
1962
Dr. Cerny joins the U.S. Army.
1967
Dr. Cerny is promoted to associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
1971
Dr. Cerny is promoted to full professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.
1974
Dr. Cerny receives the E.O. Lawrence Award from the Atomic Energy Commission.
1975
Dr. Cerny is appointed chairman of the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.
1979
Dr. Cerny is appointed head of the Nuclear Science Division and associate director of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.
1983
Dr. Cerny serves as chair of the Nuclear Physics Panel of the Physics Commission at the National Academy of Sciences.
1984
Dr. Cerny receives the Nuclear Chemistry Award from the American Chemical Society.
1985
Dr. Cerny is appointed dean of the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley.
1985
Dr. Cerny receives the A. Van Humboldt Senior Scientist Award.
1986
Dr. Cerny becomes provost for research at the University of California, Berkeley.
1988
Dr. Cerny is inducted into the University of Mississippi Alumni Hall of Fame.
1990
Dr. Cerny receives an honorary Doctor of Philosophy in physics from the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland.
1991
Dr. Cerny joins the advisory council of the University Relations Task Force at NASA.
1994
Dr. Cerny becomes vice chancellor for research at the University of California, Berkeley.
2003
Dr. Cerny is appointed chairman of the Nuclear Science Advisory Subcommittee on Education.