Happy Founders Day UC San Diego!

The year was 1960. John F. Kennedy was elected president, “To Kill a Mockingbird” was published and the U.S. launched satellite Transit-1B into space, ushering in a new era in navigation technology. One other pivotal event happened that year—the University of California San Diego was officially established on Nov. 18 as the seventh campus in the UC system.

“We have become the distinctive experimental campus envisioned by our founders,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “Today, fueled by the courage to create and sheer determination, UC San Diego is recognized as one of the world’s premier research universities, ranked a top 10 public university, and designated a Changemaker Campus by Ashoka U for our role as a leader in social innovation education.”

Annual Founders events offer an opportunity to celebrate our risk-takers, trendsetters and changemakers who continue to push boundaries and challenge expectations. Innovative faculty and graduate students will present their research to donors and invited guests on Thursday evening, Nov. 16, at the Founders Symposium.

Chancellor Khosla will award the Revelle Medal to three outstanding emeriti faculty members—Paul W. Drake, Marilyn Farquhar and Don Helinski—at the Founders Revelle Medal Awards luncheon on Friday, Nov. 17. The Revelle Medal was created in honor of Roger Revelle, who helped establish UC San Diego during his tenure from 1950-1964 as director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Today, it is the highest honor given to a current or former UC San Diego faculty member.

Roger Revelle

All members of the campus community are invited to celebrate UC San Diego’s 57 years of redefining conventional wisdom at a cake party Nov. 17 at noon near the Silent Tree on Library Walk. The first 1,500 attendees will be served cake.

As we recognize UC San Diego’s amazing trajectory, we also thank the visionary philanthropists who have helped to support nearly six decades of groundbreaking research, undergraduate and graduate students, innovative initiatives, healthcare advances and so much more. Their gifts can change everything—like the $6 million grant given in 1986 by the Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation that jump-started the construction of a new aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Last year, more than 460,000 visitors from across the globe visited Birch Aquarium, which serves an important role in interpreting the path-breaking work of Scripps Oceanography scientists.

As part of the Campaign for UC San Diego, gifts of all sizes from UC San Diego faculty and staff are helping to enhance the student experience, enrich the campus community and spark new discoveries and innovations. Physiologist John B. West, M.D., Ph.D. was one of the first faculty members hired at the School of Medicine. To ensure future support for research and teaching in his field, West made a gift to establish the campus’s first endowed faculty chair in Respiratory Physiology. The Faculty and Staff Giving program brings together employees across campus to support UC San Diego and continue the nontradition. To learn more, visit the website.

And next week, students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends are encouraged to participate in #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media. Join us at events at the Career Services Center on Library Walk, the La Jolla Medical Center and the Hillcrest Medical Center on Tuesday, Nov. 28, from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Learn more here