UCI Through the Years
1957
- UC Regents decide to expand UC system, including possible Orange County site
1958
- William Pereira engaged to research O.C. sites
1959
1960
- Gift of land from the Irvine Company
1961
- Regents name new campus University of California, Irvine
1962
- Daniel Aldrich appointed first chancellor
1964
- President Lyndon Johnson attends dedication
1965
- Campus opens with founding academic divisions of biological sciences, engineering, fine arts, humanities, physical sciences and social science, and graduate school in administration (later management)
- Anteater chosen as mascot
1966
- Ansel Adams photographs new campus
- California College of Medicine approved as UCI College of Medicine
1968
- Department of Information & Computer Sciences founded, later to become UC’s first ICS school
- UCI Alumni Association formed
- Creative writing M.F.A. program, which today has three Pulitzer Prize-winning alumni, launched
1970
- Program in Social Ecology founded, later to become school
1971
- Office of Teacher Education founded, later to become Department of Education
1972
- Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, world’s most comprehensive digital library of Greek literature, launched
1973
- F. Sherwood Rowland identifies that CFCs destroy the Earth’s protective ozone layer
1975
- Campus assigned own ZIP code
1976
- O.C. Medical Center and Community Clinic of O.C. acquired, become UCI Medical Center
1978
- Steve Scott ’78 sets American record in mile run
1982
- First housing community (Las Lomas) opens in area now known as University Hills
1984
- Aldrich retires, receives first UCI Medal; campus park named in his honor
- Jack Peltason appointed second chancellor
1985
- Frederick Reines receives National Medal of Science
1986
- Beckman Laser Institute opens
- Patrick Hanratty, Ph.D. ’77 donates a copy of Shakespeare’s 1623 “First Folio” to UCI Libraries
1988
- Donald Bren Endowment (then called Bren Fellows Program) created
1993
- Laurel Wilkening appointed third chancellor
1994
1995
- Frederick Reines and F. Sherwood Rowland receive Nobel prizes
1996
- University Research Park opens
- Campus named to Association of American Universities
1997
- Chao Family Cancer Center designated “comprehensive” by National Cancer Institute
1998
- Ralph Cicerone appointed fourth chancellor
1999
- Engineering school named for Henry Samueli
2000
- Arts school named for Clair Trevor
- California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology established
2002
- Francisco Ayala receives National Medal of Science
- Frank LaFerla develops the first triple transgenic mouse that exhibits two major symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
2004
- Information and computer science school named for Donald Bren
- Irwin Rose receives Nobel Prize
- Hans Keirstead develops human embryonic stem cell therapy that restores greater mobility in animal models with spinal cord injury
2005
- Duncan Luce receives National Medal of Science
- Business school named for Paul Merage
- Michael Drake appointed fifth chancellor
- UC’s first online degrees awarded by UCI in criminology, law and society
- Arts Plaza designed by Maya Lin dedicated
2006
- Law school approved by UC Regents
- Nursing science, pharmaceutical science programs launched
- Two students receive inaugural XIV Dalai Lama Endowed Scholarship
- Sue and Bill Gross donate $10 million to stem cell research at UCI
- Elizabeth Parker, Larry Cahill and James L. McGaugh identify new form of superior memory syndrome (highly superior autobiographical memory)
- Anthony James helps genetically engineer new tool against transmission of dengue fever virus
- Frank LaFerla-led-team identifies first compound to block progression of Alzheimer’s disease
2007
- School of Law receives $20 million gift from Donald Bren
- Men’s volleyball wins NCAA championship for first time
- Baseball competes in College World Series
- Orange County’s first hydrogen fueling station opens at UCI
2008
- Campus launches $1 billion Shaping the Future campaign
- New University Hospital completes construction four months early
- UCI Olympians bring home gold, silver
- UCI scientists play key role in Large Hadron Collider
- UCI choirs win “choral Olympics”
- Private giving tops $130 million, setting annual record
2009
- $21 million gift names UC Irvine Douglas Hospital
- Campus introduces ZotWheels, UC’s first automated bike-sharing program
- Men’s volleyball captures second NCAA championship
2010
- Megan Braun ’10 first UCI alum to earn Rhodes scholarship
- UCI Health first in the West to use robotic-assisted surgery for thyroid tumor
- Sue & Bill Gross Hall: A CIRM Institute opens as state’s first built from the ground up, designed specifically for stem cell research
- Evolutionary biologist Francisco Ayala wins Templeton Prize
2011
- UCI’s Humanities Gateway, Gross Hall earn top ranking for sustainable construction
- UCI engineers world’s first sewage-powered hydrogen fuel station
- UCI Health doctors perform West Coast’s first robotic surgery on spine
2012
- Men’s volleyball wins third NCAA championship in six years
- UC regents approve UCI School of Education
- UCI Health surgeons implant tiny eye telescope in patients with macular degeneration
- Times Higher Education names UCI world’s best comprehensive university under 50 years old
2013
- New Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center creates a “living laboratory” for sustainability research
- Men’s volleyball wins fourth NCAA championship in seven years
- A gleaming new building for Gavin Herbert Eye Institute opens on campus
- UCI is host university of the inaugural XPO clean energy exposition, which took place alongside the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013 at Orange County Great Park
2014
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes UCI with 2014 Climate Leadership Award
- Biological sciences school named for Francisco J. Ayala
- Institute for Innovation established to expedite technology transfer
- President Barack Obama speaks at commencement in Angel Stadium of Anaheim, kicking off 50th anniversary celebration
- Baseball competes in College World Series for second time
- Howard Gillman appointed sixth chancellor
- UCI and three other Orange County campuses named Team Orange, an official U.S. Dept. of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 team
2015
- UCI men’s basketball team wins Big West conference title for the first time and goes to the NCAA March Madness tournament
- Peter the Anteater voted National Champion Mascot on Mashable, makes an appearance on “Conan”
- The XIV Dalai Lama announces he will celebrate his 80th birthday during UCI’s 50th anniversary with his campus colleagues July 5-7