Campus Alert Archive
UC Berkeley

The Bomb in the Computer Room That Cost a Grad Student His Fingers

CAsuspicious packageemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On May 15, 1985, a Unabomber device left in a Cory Hall computer room at UC Berkeley exploded when graduate student John Hauser picked it up, costing him fingers and partial vision in one eye. It was the second Unabomber attack at Cory Hall, which had also been bombed on July 2, 1982. The 1980s incidents predate any campus mass-notification system.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
1
Institution
University of California, Berkeley
Public R1 · CA
~30,000 students
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTother
Approximate reconstruction223 chars
An explosive device left in a Cory Hall computer room detonated when a graduate student picked it up, severely injuring his hand and eye; campus police and the fire department responded and secured the engineering building.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

This 1985 incident predates campus mass notification; response was an emergency-services mobilization to Cory Hall, not a community-wide alert.
The victim, John Hauser, was a 26-year-old Air Force captain and graduate student; he lost several fingers and partial vision in one eye, ending his hopes of becoming an astronaut.
Reconstructed wording; the injury and location are documented in the federal UNABOM chronology and UC Berkeley retrospectives.
FOLLOW-UPpress-release
Approximate reconstruction221 chars
Authorities confirmed that the device that injured a graduate student in Cory Hall was an explosive bomb, the second such device planted in the UC Berkeley engineering building after a 1982 blast that injured a professor.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Cory Hall is the only site struck twice in the Unabomber campaign — July 2, 1982 and May 15, 1985 — a fact established by investigators rather than communicated through any campus alert.
The 1982 device had injured engineering professor Diogenes Angelakos, who picked up the box to move it.
Reconstructed wording; the repeat-target detail is documented across UNABOM sources.
Context

Background

On May 15, 1985, a Unabomber bomb left in a computer room in Cory Hall, the electrical-engineering building at UC Berkeley, exploded when graduate student and Air Force captain John Hauser picked it up. He lost several fingers and the vision in one eye. It was the second attack on Cory Hall — the only site Ted Kaczynski struck twice — after a July 2, 1982 device injured engineering professor Diogenes Angelakos. Both fit the UNABOM pattern of attacks on universities and technologists. As mid-1980s incidents, there was no campus mass-notification system; the response was an emergency-services mobilization to the building, and the link between the 1982 and 1985 blasts was an investigative finding, not a broadcast warning. The Unabomber would not be identified as Kaczynski until his 1996 arrest.
Analysis

Key Findings

A Unabomber device in a Cory Hall computer room cost graduate student John Hauser several fingers and partial vision in one eye
Cory Hall was the only target struck twice in the campaign, after a 1982 bomb injured professor Diogenes Angelakos
The 1980s incidents predate campus mass notification; response was an emergency-services mobilization, not a community alert
The bomber would not be identified as Ted Kaczynski until his arrest in 1996
Outcome
Graduate student John Hauser, a 26-year-old Air Force captain, lost several fingers and the vision in one eye. An earlier July 2, 1982 device in a Cory Hall break room had injured engineering professor Diogenes Angelakos. Both were later attributed to Ted Kaczynski.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Source
    A Chronology of the UNABOM investigation — Cornell Law School
    law.cornell.edu
  2. Student Paper
    Former campus professor, serial killer the 'Unabomber' dies — The Daily Californian
    dailycal.org
  3. Source
    Cory Hall — Ted Kaczynski Bombing Site
    morbidtourism.com
Tags
suspicious-packagebombingcaliforniaunabomberpre-cleryhistoric1980s
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion