Board of Regents Meeting: 9/19/07
George R. Blumenthal
Board of Regents Meeting
September 19, 2007
President Dynes, Chair Blum, Regents of the University--thank you for the opportunity to continue serving UC Santa Cruz as its permanent Chancellor. I am deeply honored.
UC Santa Cruz is a very special place. I have spent more than three decades at this campus, and I love it dearly.
In that time, I have watched UCSC evolve from its innovative, pioneering roots to a vibrant nationally ranked research university, and the campus has done this without losing its distinctive, personalized focus on undergraduate education.
As the Acting Chancellor over the past 14 months, I have gained new insights into the challenges and the opportunities at UCSC. One thing I know vividly is that UC Santa Cruz is a great institution of higher learning--an outstanding and distinctive campus within the worldís greatest public research university.
I am sure you know how stunningly beautiful and strategically located the Santa Cruz campus is. Many of our strongest programs grow out of this physical location--including our well-known programs in marine sciences, sustainable agriculture, and the environment. Note also that UCSC is located on the central California Coast and just 25 minutes from the technological center of the world, Silicon Valley. Now with facilities and programs in the heart of Silicon Valley, UCSC is building new areas of innovation and achievement ranging from computer gaming, computer storage systems, and digital arts to business management and bio-info-nano technologies.
That is one of the truly impressive qualities of UC Santa Cruz ñ Our campus has remarkably strong and innovative programs throughout the liberal arts and the sciences. Youíll find a substantial number of distinctive programs that have emerged just where disciplines meet and overlap. The campusís greatest successes arise from the strength, commitment, and innovation of our faculty. I know how successfully this faculty has worked with our outstanding students and staff at UCSC.
My goal is to work with YOU as well as our alumni, faculty, staff, and students:
- To continue providing extraordinary education to students from California and beyond who deserve access to a great research university;
- To ensure that UCSC reflects Californiaís diversity in all its forms.
- To promote outstanding research and graduate training, especially in areas vital to our economy and quality of life;
- To optimize every dollar invested in our campus to produce the greatest benefit;
- And to build constructive partnerships to serve and meet the needs of the state and communities we are part of.
I cherish the mission of public universities, and Iím proud to lead one of the 10 great University of California campuses.
I commit to you and my colleagues at UC Santa Cruz that I will work tirelessly toward the success of the campus and that I will plan strategically and act boldly to continue, and indeed accelerate, UCSCís upward trajectory.
