Dorothy Leland
UC Merced Chancellor

Welcome to UC Merced — the University of California's newest campus.

The University of California is the embodiment of a truly great idea — elegant in its simplicity, yet bold and powerful in its reach. That idea dates back to 1868, when the newly minted state Legislature decreed that it would "provide an education equal to that of the nation's best private institutions and make that education available to all."

For more than 140 years the university has affirmed that great idea through a set of three fundamental principles:

First, to provide every qualified high school graduate the opportunity to obtain an affordable education at one of the world's preeminent research universities.

Second, to conduct cutting-edge research into the world's most pressing problems, creating knowledge, discoveries and innovations that bring advances and fuel new industry.

And, third, to serve the communities and regions in which the university operates through economic investment, cultural development, community involvement, service learning and other activities that make these communities better for the university's presence.

As a result of this visionary commitment to the people of California, the California economy is larger than the economies of almost all of the world's countries. Our state is recognized globally as a cradle of innovation, entrepreneurialism, social justice and cultural advancement, and the University of California is widely regarded as the premier public research university in the world.

UC Merced is a fresh expression of that same idea and set of principles. Opened in the fall of 2005 with just 875 students and 60 faculty members, the campus has grown to more than 5,000 students. The quality and diversity of our student body are impressive. More than half of them are first-generation college students hungry to achieve what their parents were unable to pursue.

Without exception, UC campuses have distinguished themselves as powerhouses of invention, discovery and knowledge creation, generating the kinds of intellectual contributions that spawn entire industries, create rewarding jobs, advance human knowledge and fundamentally change how we live our lives. With its growing and impressive research portfolio, UC Merced is destined to continue this proud tradition. Through its discoveries in fields ranging from alternative energy to water resource management and health and cognitive sciences, UC Merced is poised to contribute greatly to the economic recovery of California and the nation through important scientific breakthroughs, discoveries and inventions.

With the most diverse student body of any UC campus, UC Merced is a bold iteration of all that the University of California stands for — that every qualified student deserves a chance to get a quality education at an affordable price, that research conducted in the public interest can change the world, and that service to the community and investment in the community raises the standard of living for all.