Chancellor’s Holiday Message
Dec. 12, 2006
Dear Colleagues:
This has been an extraordinary year for our campus. We have garnered a host of awards and excelled in our core priorities of research, education and public service – all due to your hard work and dedication.
We continue to pioneer research breakthroughs that are improving and saving lives. Recent highlights include a new Alzheimer’s treatment and a genetically engineered mosquito that provides a powerful weapon in the fight against dengue fever. We are a hub for stem cell research, a trailblazer in understanding global warming, and a leader in the fight against breast cancer. These and many other achievements by our renowned faculty helped the campus attract a record $311 million in extramural funding for 2005-06. Acknowledgement of our excellence continues: faculty members from social sciences and information and computer sciences were named Fulbright Scholars just last week.
Success breeds success, and more students are seeking a UCI education than ever before. Our largest-ever incoming undergraduate class of 6,500 has access to myriad academic programs – from the arts to zymology – including 40 that are ranked among the nation’s top 50. Our Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program provides hands-on laboratory research experience for 1,700 undergraduates each year. And this fall, we enrolled our first undergraduates in public health and nursing science, expanding our role in fields critical to California’s health and prosperity.
Our connections with the local community continue to deepen, as evidenced by a record $101 million in private support last year, including $13 million for our new university hospital. In November we were very pleased to be able to extend health benefits to our Campus Landscape Services workers and their families, who previously did not have coverage.
Recently we were gratified with the UC Regents’ long-awaited approval of our School of Law. Based on these and other positive trends, we are confident that our stature as one of the nation’s leading universities will continue to grow.
As we approach the new year, and reflect on the impact your efforts are making on our local, national and global communities, we have much to celebrate.
My very best wishes to you, your families and friends this holiday season and in the coming year.
Michael V. Drake, M.D.
Chancellor
