University of California

The University of California (UC) has nine campuses around the state, with a combined student body of more than 192,000; a tenth campus is under construction near the city of Merced and is scheduled to open in Fall 2005. The original campus is in the city of Berkeley. UC San Francisco enrolls only graduate students while the other campuses enroll both undergraduate and graduate students.

The University system though separated as individual and independent collect an unsurpassed faculty of researchers and educators. Most of the universities boast a number of top scholars in every field as well as a large number of Nobel laureates. In recent years, faculty in physics at UCSB, and economics at Berkeley and UCSD, have been winners of Nobel Prizes, a testament to the ongoing influence and prestige of the UC system within academia.

History

When the state of California wrote its Constitution in 1849, it stipulated for an educational system complete with a university. Taking advantage of the Morrill Land Grant Act, the legislature established an Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College in 1866. However, although this institution was provided with sufficient funds, it lacked land.

Beforehand, Congregational minister Henry Durant had established the College of California in Oakland, California in 1855. With an eye for expansion, the college's trustees purchased 160 acres (650,000 m²) of land in where is now Berkeley in 1866. But unlike the state's Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College, it lacked the funds to operate.

The trustees offered to merge with the state college to their mutual advantage, but under one condition--that the there be not simply a "Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College," but a "a complete university." Accordingly, the Organic Act was signed into law establishing the University of California on March 23, 1868.

The University of California opened its first medical school on February 20, 1873 in San Francisco. In 1908, a "University Farm" was established at Davis, which became UC Davis in 1959. A "Southern Branch" was opened in Los Angeles in 1919. The Riverside campus was opened in 1954, Santa Barbara in 1958, San Diego in 1959, and Santa Cruz and Irvine in 1965.

Governance

The University of California is governed by the Regents of the University of California, as stipulated by the Constitution of the State of California. 18 regents are appointed by the governor for 12-year terms. One member is a student appointed for a one-year term. Then there are 7 ex officio members - the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, Superintendent of Public Instruction, president and vice president of the Alumni Associations of UC, and UC president.

The Academic Senate, made up a faculty members, is empowered by the Regents to set academic policies. In addition, the faculty systemwide chair and vice-chair sit on the board as non-voting members.

The Regents appoints a president to run the entire system, while individual campuses are assigned chancellors, who are given a great degree of autonomy.

List of UC Presidents

1. John LeConte (1868-1870, acting); Henry Durant (1870-1872)
2. Daniel Coit Gilman (1872-1875)
3. John LeConte (1876-1881)
4. W.T. Reid (1881-1885)
5. Edward S. Holden (1885-1888)
6. Horace Davis (1888-1890)
7. Martin Kellogg (1890-1893, acting) (1893-1899)
8. Benjamin Ide Wheeler (1899-1919)
9. David Prescott Barrows (1919-1923)
10. William Wallace Campbell (1923-1930)
11. Robert Gordon Sproul (1930-1958)
12. Clark Kerr (1958-1967); Harry R. Wellman (1967, acting)
13. Charles J. Hitch (1968-1975)
14. David S. Saxon (1975-1983)
15. David P. Gardner (1983-1992)
16. Jack W. Peltason (1992-1995)
17. Richard Atkinson (1995-2003)
18. Robert C. Dynes (2003-present)

Campuses

• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Davis
• University of California, Irvine
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, Merced
• University of California, Riverside
• University of California, San Diego
• University of California, San Francisco
• University of California, Santa Barbara
• University of California, Santa Cruz

Laboratories

The University of California manages three national laboratories on behalf of the United States Department of Energy:

• Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Los Alamos National Laboratory

Observatories

The University of California manages two observatories as a multi-campus research unit headquartered at its Santa Cruz campus.

• Lick Observatory
• Keck Observatory

Affiliated law school

• Hastings College of the Law

See also: Colleges and universities

External links

• Official site
• Office of the President
• Charter
• U.C. Observatories