"Academically he was at the top of the top, " said Timothy White, chancellor of UC Riverside.

WSJ: Shooting Suspect's Behavior Provided Few Clues

The technology demonstrated by the UC Riverside researchers was in the 385 nm wavelength.

FORBES: What is the Future of Optical Disc Technology and who will Use It?

He won merit scholarships to attend UC Riverside, where he was enrolled in one of the university's most challenging programs.

WSJ: Shooting Suspect's Behavior Provided Few Clues

It was a common path for UC Riverside's neuroscience 2010 graduates, many of whom went on to medical schools or graduate science programs.

WSJ: Shooting Suspect's Behavior Provided Few Clues

If he was outstanding in any way, it was for academics: He won merit scholarships to attend UC Riverside, where he was enrolled in one of its most challenging programs.

WSJ: Suspect's Rapid Descent

Mr. Holmes found a crew of studious students living on his hall that appeared a good fit for him his freshman year of college in the honors dorm Pentland Hills at UC Riverside, one hall mate recalled.

WSJ: Shooting Suspect's Behavior Provided Few Clues

As an undergraduate, Mr. Holmes's course work and after-hours work in the chemistry lab would have focused on biological chemistry and pharmaceuticals, not on chemicals that might be used to make gases or explosives, former UC Riverside neuroscience students said.

WSJ: Shooting Suspect's Behavior Provided Few Clues