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UC San Diego Celebrates 50th Anniversary Founders' Day November 18
Campus community and San Diego residents invited to join in commemorating the past, celebrating the present and looking toward future at free 50th Anniversary event

Laura Margoni | Nov. 15, 2010

The year was 1960. John F. Kennedy was elected president, To Kill a Mockingbird was published and the U.S. launched satellite Transit I-B into space, ushering in a new era in navigation technology. One other pivotal event happened that year—the University of California, San Diego was established officially on Nov. 18 as the seventh campus in the University of California system.

Now, 50 years later, the UC San Diego community will commemorate that momentous occasion by celebrating Founders’ Day on Thursday, Nov. 18. The free event, open to the campus community and San Diego residents, will honor the history and traditions of UC San Diego and takes place in the heart of campus at Town Square from 3-6 p.m. To be eligible for prize drawings, attendees are encouraged to register for the event online by 4 p.m. Nov. 16 at the UC San Diego Box Office.  

 “Founders’ Day gives us the opportunity to honor UC San Diego’s founders and the vision they had in creating this world-class institution,” said Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. “This is an opportunity for students, alumni, parents, faculty, staff and our UC San Diego friends to come together to celebrate the university’s achievements, as well as share our future. This event will be entertaining, inspiring and exciting for all.”

UCSD's founding Chancellor Herbert F. York, right, talked with current UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox in 2004. Fox will speak during Founders' Day.

The festivities will begin with an opening ceremony in a fun, street festival atmosphere featuring all areas of campus—from the six UC San Diego colleges and 10 academic divisions and schools to the alumni association, and staff association. The program will be emceed by Dan Cohen, KFMB-TV/CBS 8 San Diegonewsanchor, and will feature a variety of guest speakers and entertainment highlighting key moments in the university’s history. A student-oriented celebration—described as “not your grandma’s party”—will follow the formal program and will kick off with a surprise celebrity performance.

Founders’ Day is one of many 50th Anniversary events, activities and programs planned to highlight UC San Diego’s achievements and transformation from a fledgling campus housed on former military land to a world-class academic and research institution ranked among the top 10 public universities in the nation. UC San Diego is a magnet for state and federal research dollars and an important economic force locally, regionally and nationally. The university generates 39,000 jobs, making it San Diego County’s third largest employer and each year it contributes $7.2 billion into the California economy, according to the 2008 economic analysis of UC San Diego by CBRE Consulting, Inc.

Julia Brown, chair of the UC San Diego Foundation Board of Trustees, will speak during Founders' Day.

Widely known as a source of innovation and intellectual capital, UC San Diego faculty and alumni comprise some of the most distinguished creative minds in the world including Nobel laureates; Pulitzer Prize winners; Fields Medalists; Tony, Grammy and Academy Award winners; MacArthur Fellows; and National Medal of Science recipients—including Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, who will be recognized by the White House on Nov. 17 as a 2010 honoree. The university’s scholars have pioneered new ways of thinking as well as created more than 500 start-ups, including many local biotech companies.

In addition to being one of the nation’s leading institutions of higher education and research, UC San Diego is also ranked first in the nation for its commitment to service, and is considered one of the country’s most environmentally responsible universities.

“While we celebrate our milestone anniversary, we’re also focusing on our future and overcoming the challenges of a young university,” added Fox. “We still have a relatively small number of alumni and a small endowment, so it is critical that we engage our alumni, our campus community and university friends to raise money for much-need scholarships and fellowships for our undergraduate and graduate students.”

The UCSD gospel choir will perform during Founders' Day ceremonies.

Yet, despite the fiscal challenges, UC San Diego remains committed to providing students driven by aptitude, ambition and hard work access to an affordable education. Invent the Future: The UC San Diego Student Support Campaign is the fundraising beneficiary of the 50th Anniversary events and activities. The goal of the campaign is to raise $50 million to help fund undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships.

UC San Diego is fortunate to have generous sponsors that have stepped forward to help support 50th Anniversary celebration events and activities. These sponsors include:

• Visionary Sponsors: Cubic Corporation; Qualcomm; and Sempra Energy
• Innovator Sponsors: VOLT
• Overachiever Sponsor: Cymer, Inc.
• True Blue Triton Sponsors: BKM/Steelcase, Classic Party Rentals, Consolidated Electrical Distributors, Inc., Swinerton Builders
• Supporting Sponsors: Clark Construction; Skidmore, Owings and Merrill; Turner Construction Company; USE Credit Union; and Webcor Builders
• Media Partners: Clear Channel Communications; KFMB-TV/CBS 8 San Diego; San Diego Union-Tribune; and Time Warner Cable San Diego

Walter Munk, a world-renowned oceanographer and professor emeritus, is one of the Founders' Day keynote speakers.

The UCSD Bookstore is directing 10 percent of the sales from the UC San Diego 50th Anniversary Collection to Invent the Future: the UCSD Student Support Campaign, which raises funds for undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships. The initiative has raised close to $5,000 so far.

For more information on UC San Diego’s 50th Anniversary, please visit www.50th.ucsd.edu.