Since its founding in 1965, the University of California, Irvine has combined the strengths of a major research university with the bounty of an incomparable Southern California location. In fewer than four decades, UCI has become internationally recognized for efforts that are improving lives through research and discovery, fostering excellence in scholarship and teaching, and engaging and enriching the community.

With more than 23,000 students, 1,300 faculty members and 8,100 staff, UCI is the fourth-largest campus of the University of California system. Increasingly a first-choice campus for students, UCI was fifth among U.S. universities - public and private - in the number of undergraduate applications for fall 2003, and the campus admitted the most academically competitive freshman class in its history. Orange County's third-largest employer, UCI also is an economic engine powering prosperity in the region, generating an annual economic impact of $3 billion.

UCI reaches beyond the classroom and laboratory to find ways to solve societal issues and support human development. In the health sciences, UCI is noted for its research into cancer, neurosciences and the genetic underpinnings of disease. UCI Medical Center is Orange County's only university hospital and Level I trauma center. Construction of a new university hospital, slated for completion in 2008, will create a landmark center for medicine that integrates patient care, teaching and research with advanced specialtycare facilities, accelerating UCI Medical Center's transformation into one of the world's leading health care destinations for patients and clinicians.

UCI continues to build mutually beneficial partnerships with the community. With generous community support, the campus recently opened the Department of Earth System Science's new John V. Croul Hall, an international research center for the study of such issues as global warming, and is making enhancements to the main library, a valued campus and community resource that was renamed the Jack Langson Library in honor of its benefactor. To meet growing enrollment and facility needs, some $1 billion in construction is under way or on the books, surpassing all other growth periods in UCI's history.

Continuing to be developed is the 185-acre University Research Park adjacent to UCI's College of Medicine, where R&D companies enjoy opportunities for technology sharing and collaboration in medical research, engineering, computer science, biotechnology and business.
UCI is benefiting the community and the world in countless ways through its scholarly, scientific, creative and economic contributions. With the goal of becoming a flagship UC campus and one of the nation's very best universities, UCI will continue to inspire excellence as it fulfills its research, teaching and public service missions in the decades ahead.