Graduate Students Recognized for Commitment to Diversity

The UC San Diego chapter of the Bouchet Society—the first West Coast chapter of the national organization—was established in 2008 with the first group of graduate honorees inducted in 2009. This year’s members represent a broad range of disciplines, from biology and chemistry to education and art history.

“It is a great honor for UC San Diego to be represented in the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society and for our graduate students to be leaders who are advancing diversity and inclusion in higher education,” said Linda Greene, vice chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion./>

UC San Diego Scholars Honored with Faculty Excellence Awards

They represent diverse fields ranging from biology to political science and family medicine to literature, but six University of California, San Diego professors now share something in common: They are all recipients of Chancellor’s Associates Faculty Excellence Awards. The prestigious awards are presented annually by the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Associates donor group for excellence in teaching, research, community service and performing and visual arts. The recognition ceremony will be held Thursday, March 21 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Atkinson Hall, located at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) on the UC San Diego campus.

Clark Gibson, professor of political science, recognized for excellence in graduate teaching.

San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering to Offer Students Walk on Wild Side of Science, Engineering

Perfectly qualified to teach herbology at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Steve Briggs instead settles for distinguished professor at UC San Diego. Briggs researches plant cell biology and focuses particularly on plant immune systems. Aside from being a main source of food, livestock feed, clothes and building material, plants also “give us medicine and natural beauty,” he says. As chief scientist of the 2013 San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering, Briggs brings a level of excitement and enthusiasm to the event that rivals his passion for botany.

UC San Diego’s Graduate Programs Among Nation’s Best, According to U.S. News and World Report

The 2014 edition of the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate Schools guidebook, released today, highly ranks the University of California, San Diego’s professional schools in engineering and medicine, as well as its academic Ph.D. programs in the social sciences and humanities.

“These new rankings illustrate UC San Diego’s rich academic portfolio,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “From our many strengths across diverse disciplines to our award-winning scholars at the forefront of their fields, we educate the next generation of leaders who will address our society’s most pressing global challenges.”

Reputation Rankings Name UC San Diego 34th Best University in the World

The Times Higher Education has placed the University of California, San Diego as the 34th top university in the publication’s World Reputation Rankings. UC San Diego moved up two spots from 36th last year in the annual rankings.

“It is an honor for UC San Diego to be recognized as a world leader of academic excellence,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “This global ranking is a strong testament to UC San Diego’s exceptional education and research. Here, students have the opportunity to work closely with brilliant faculty, including Nobel laureates, interact with top scholars and pursue endless opportunities for personal and intellectual development.”

UC San Diego Rides Wave of Recognition as Top Surfing School

UC San Diego has again been named one of the nation’s best schools for surfing, taking the No. 2 spot in The Surf Channel’s list of top 10 universities for surfers. The channel attributes the ranking to the university’s proximity to the “shreddible” breaks at Black’s Beach and its “epic” surf team, which has won six National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) titles..

UC San Diego has long been recognized as a top school for surfing by some of the sport’s most respected news sources, including Surfer Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Transworld Surf and Surfline.com.

Breaking Down Barriers to Online Education

The self-described “tinkerers” and “hacker-ninjas” behind a free web app they call “KA Lite” have an immodest goal: They aim to bring the revolution in online education to the 65 percent of the world that isn’t online.

Developed by a ragtag team of dedicated volunteers led by UC San Diego cognitive science doctoral candidate Jamie Alexandre, the app fords the digital divide by making available offline the online videos and exercises of the popular Khan Academy – which tallied 5.5 million unique users in January. The team also has a vision of expanding to include other educational content that’s freely available on the Internet commons. Project Gutenberg, perhaps, or Wikipedia.

Jan. 10 Town Hall Forum Focuses on Graduate and Professional Education

“UC San Diego has achieved a lot more than any other university has or could have in its first 50 years. How are we going to maintain that and improve upon it?” Chancellor Pradeep Khosla put that question to a group of graduate and professional students at a strategic planning town hall meeting on January 10 in the Student Services Center. The students responded by identifying campus assets that drew them to UC San Diego and challenges they face in earning advanced degrees at the university. They suggested specific ways to enrich their educational experience, and they urged the Chancellor to continue this exchange of ideas beyond the planning process.

Bouchet Graduate Honor Society Presents at Puente Leadership Conference

UC San Diego and Howard University are forming a partnership program aimed at increasing the number of African-American applicants to UC San Diego graduate programs, particularly in the fields of science and engineering. Supported by a $288,000 grant from the University of California Office of the President, the UC San Diego/Howard University Partnership for Graduate Student Success will provide Howard undergraduates with an intensive summer research experience at the La Jolla campus, as well as mentorship from UC San Diego faculty throughout the academic year. In addition, program participants who apply and are admitted to a University of California graduate program will have their student fees covered by UC.

Bouchet Graduate Honor Society Presents at Puente Leadership Conference

On December 1st, 2012, representatives of UC San Diego’s Chapter of the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society participated in the Puente 9th Grade Student Leadership Conference held on the UC San Diego campus. The Puente Project provides support and guidance for economically disadvantaged and underrepresented students to enroll in four-year colleges and universities. Puente serves these high school students through writing support, counseling, and mentoring, encouraging them to graduate from college and return to their community as mentors and leaders. This conference, occurring twice a year, hosts 900 Southern California high school students and 100 chaperones and parents. During the conference, students attend keynote speeches, workshops, and panels.

UC San Diego Graduate Student Wins Inventors Competition

For work toward a safer approach to treating cancer, electrical engineering Ph.D. student Inanc Ortac from the University of California, San Diego has won first prize in the graduate student category at the 2012 Collegiate Inventors Competition. Ortac’s winning entry, entitled “Nano-Wiffle-Balls for Cancer Therapy” offers a new approach for delivering cancer drugs just to the areas where the drugs are needed. This kind of targeted drug delivery minimizes collateral damage to non-cancerous cells. “With our nano-wiffle-ball technology, we expect that the lethal side effects to chemotherapy can be greatly reduced, the efficacy of the therapy can be increased, and the quality of life of patients can be improved,” said Ortac.

UC San Diego Partners with Little Saigon Foundation to Establish Graduate Fellowship

Collaborative efforts launch Vietnamese American Studies Fellowship initiative to preserve language and culture. “It is important to preserve the cultural, artistic and economic developments of the Vietnamese community,” says Kendrick Ton, treasurer of the Little Saigon Foundation. “Without language, you can’t communicate with your elders and the stories get lost in translation.” Community leaders like Kendrick hope to preserve the legacy of the Vietnamese culture by empowering local Vietnamese Americans through higher education.

Cultural Heritage Center at UC San Diego Reports Progress in 2012

The number of Ph.D. students participating in the Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology (CISA3) has risen in the past year from six to 19, thanks to support from private donors and from the National Science Foundation through the ramp-up of its Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) grant to the UC San Diego center’s for engineering in cultural heritage diagnostics.

ARCS Foundation Funds Scholar Awards for UC San Diego Graduate Students

Surrounded by ARCS fellowship recipients, Robin Luby presents check to Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. The San Diego chapter of ARCS Foundation, Inc. awarded $232,500 in fellowships to support 31 graduate students at the University of California, San Diego, for the 2012-13 academic year. The ARCS Foundation, a national volunteer women’s organization, provides awards to top students studying science, medicine and engineering. The local chapter has donated $3.8 million to support UC San Diego students since the chapter’s inception in 1985.

Announcing Intel Corporate US PhD Fellowship Program Winners for 2012-2013

The Intel PhD Fellowship program focuses on research in Intel’s technical areas; Hardware Systems Technology and Design, Software Technology and Design, and Semiconductor Technology and Manufacturing. A total of 18 fellowships were awarded in 2012. This prestigious award recognizes winning students as being tops in their areas of research, including two of our very own; Nathan Goulding-Hotta and Kai Wang of the Department of Computer Science

Former UC San Diego Foundation Chair and Wife Endow $4 Million Fellowship Fund

The University of California, San Diego today announced that Jerome and Miriam Katzin have endowed a $4 million fellowship fund to support graduate students. UC San Diego’s more than 5,000 graduate students raise the caliber of the university’s work by advancing groundbreaking discoveries, driving innovation, and generating new knowledge and leadership that will make a difference locally, nationally and around the globe. The Katzins hope that their gift will also inspire others to support graduate education at UC San Diego.