2010

The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine breaks ground on its new building on UC San Diego land. The facility unites stem cell researchers and scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, Salk Institute for Biological Studies and UC San Diego.

For the first time, UC San Diego obtains $1 billion in research contracts and grants during a single fiscal year.

The U.S. Office of Naval Research selects Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego as the operator of a new scientific research vessel, scheduled to be in operation in 2015.

The Joan and Irwin Jacobs family pledge $75 million to UC San Diego Health System to build the Jacobs Medical Center. The extensive facility includes three new hospitals: the Cancer Hospital, the Hospital for Women and Infants and the Hospital for Advanced Surgery.

Saving $8 million per year with its co-generation plant, UC San Diego wins an EPA energy-efficiency award.

Rae Armantrout, a poet and UC San Diego professor of writing and literature, wins the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her book “Versed.”

A portion of the holdings of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library—the world’s largest oceanography library—are digitized and made available to anyone with Internet access.

The Health Sciences neighborhood's Arris Verde Graduate Student Housing opens in the fall, consisting of fully furnished apartments for roughly 450 graduate and professional students. This project is part of UC San Diego's goal to house 50 percent of its students on campus.

Marye Anne Fox, a world-renowned chemist and seventh chancellor of UC San Diego, is named by the White House as a recipient of the prestigious National Medal of Science.

UC San Diego celebrates its landmark 50 th Anniversary with the inaugural Founders’ Day.

UC San Diego received a $2 million gift from longtime campus supporter Audrey Geisel to jumpstart the renovation of University House, the currently uninhabitable private residence for the UC San Diego Chancellor.

The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2)—one of the world’s most advanced testbeds for scientific visualization, virtual/physical collaboration and ‘green’ computing—celebrates its 10 th anniversary.

2011

UC San Diego Medical Center performs the West Coast’s first implant of the world’s only FDA-approved total artificial heart.

Geisel Library celebrates its 40 th anniversary. Today the building, named in honor of Theodor S. Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and his wife Audrey, has more than 250,000 books and 4,000 visitors a day. It has also been featured in numerous movies, television shows and commercials.

Bioengineering Professor Shu Chien receives the National Medal of Science from President Obama. Chien’s research has led to better tests and treatment of atherosclerosis.

"Fallen Star" by Do Ho Suh is installed on top of Jacobs Hall as the latest addition to the Stuart Collection of public art on campus. The installation consists of a house, cantilevered at an angle from the corner of the building, surrounded by a roof garden.

The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine opens on the UC San Diego campus. The new facility allows researchers from five institutions to work under one roof.

Former President Bill Clinton holds the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) at UC San Diego. The three-day conference brings together 1,000 student social entrepreneurs from around the globe.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography is the third stop of the America’s Cup inaugural World Series of Sailing.

2012

The campus hosts its first-ever Triton Day, a combination of Open House and Admit Day, drawing roughly 24,000 people to explore UC San Diego.

The Dalai Lama speaks on campus as part of his first visit to San Diego. The topic of the panel discussion is "The Global Impact of Climate Change: Balance through Universal Responsibility, Compassion and Human Consciousness."

Sixth College celebrates its 10th Anniversary with events including a special performance by late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien.

Wells Fargo Hall opens on the campus of UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management.

UC San Diego establishes a new Organized Research Unit that focuses on “Food and Fuel for the 21 st Century.

The campus hosts its inaugural Good Life Festival to celebrate health and wellness while showcasing the wide variety of resources available on campus to support a balanced lifestyle.

Pradeep K. Khosla is named the 8th chancellor of UC San Diego. Formerly dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s highly regarded College of Engineering (also known as the Carnegie Institute of Technology), Khosla is an accomplished leader, educator and researcher.

2013

The UC San Diego Arthur C. Clarke Center for Imagination is established to study the phenomena of imagination through engagement in the arts, literature, sciences, medicine and technology. The center pays homage to Arthur C. Clarke, iconic innovator and author of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

The Student Veterans Resource Center is launched to provide academic and professional development resources to all members of the campus community affected by military conflicts. The center offers student veterans a place to interact, share experiences and foster community.

Businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford donates $100 million—the second largest gift received by UC San Diego in its 53-year history—to create the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center to accelerate drug development and cell therapies derived from current human stem cell research.

Mario Molina, distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry, receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The nation’s highest civilian honor, the White House also bestows the award posthumously to Sally Ride, former professor emeritus in physics and first American woman in space.

The Chancellor’s Associates Scholars Program is launched to provide undergraduate scholarships to eligible students from three local high schools that support historically under-served communities: Gompers Preparatory Academy, Lincoln High School and The Preuss School UCSD.

The UC San Diego computer science and engineering department receives an $18.5 million gift—the largest alumni gift in the university’s history, which helps fund faculty endowed chairs, top-of-the-line teaching labs, mentoring and tutoring programs and more.

UC San Diego opens the Black Resource Center as a community space to house new and existing campus inclusion programs and a place where all UC San Diego students can find academic support, non-academic counseling, develop leadership skills and more.

In response to President Obama’s “grand challenge” to chart the function of the human brain, UC San Diego launches the Center for Brain Activity Mapping to tackle the technological and biological challenge of developing a new generation of tools to record neuronal activity throughout the brain.

The Fudan-UC Center opens at UC San Diego, the first academic institution established by a major Chinese university in cooperation with a leading U.S. university, to expand scholarship on contemporary China studies and enhance mutual understanding between the U.S. and China.

2014

UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers discover new evidence that suggests autism begins during pregnancy. Comparing brain tissue of children with and without autism, they find patches of disrupted development in the layers of the cortex, indicating a possible biological origin to the disorder.

More than 1,500 new materials from the personal archive of author Theodor Seuss Geisel were donated by Audrey Geisel to the UC San Diego Library, including a variety of unpublished projects, such as “Cat Ballooning,” “The Pet Shop,” “Bee-Watcher” and “Arabian Adventures.”

The J. Craig Venter Institute—a $37 million research facility—is launched by alumnus J. Craig Venter. Researchers focus on everything from continued sequencing and analysis of the human genome, to new research in synthetic biology and cataloging and sequencing of the vast unseen life in the world’s oceans, rivers and soils.

UC San Diego develops its first-ever Strategic Plan under the leadership of eighth Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla, establishing a shared vision and goals for the future of the campus.

Nick Woodman, alumnus and founder of GoPro—a versatile camera popular among sports enthusiasts—visits campus to share his secrets for success.

The Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego Health System is named one of three new “alpha clinics” by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to help accelerate the first-in-human stem cell-related clinical trials.

The Chancellor’s Associates Scholars program is expanded to include eligible transfer students from San Diego City College, Southwestern College and Imperial Valley College, as well as students from federally recognized tribes and participants of Reality Changers.

2015

The School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) is renamed the School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) to reflect the increasingly broadened scope of the school’s research impact worldwide.

Philanthropists Evelyn and Ernest Rady commit $100 million to support endowed faculty chairs, student fellowships and educational programs at the UC San Diego Rady School of Management.

Robert and Allison Price, through Price Philanthropies, donate $6 million to UC San Diego’s Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography to support hands-on educational outreach in ocean and earth science.

Nanoengineers develop a temporary tattoo that both extracts and measures the level of glucose in the fluid in between skin cells. This first-ever example of the flexible, easy-to-wear device is a promising step forward in noninvasive glucose testing for patients with diabetes.

UC San Diego Alumni and Community Engagement launch the Basement, a new collaborative space where students learn how to create a startup business, develop a financial plan, market their innovations and more.

UC San Diego biologists and chemists partner with the local surfing industry to create the world’s first algae-based, sustainable surfboard. The design is unveiled at the premiere of National Geographic’s documentary, “World’s Smart Cities: San Diego.”

The new Triton Ballpark and the Marye Anne Fox Clubhouse are dedicated, featuring sunken team dugouts, a press box, batting cages, permanent spectator seating and more for UC San Diego’s intercollegiate baseball team.

2016

Jacobs Medical Center opens at UC San Diego Health. The 10-story, 245-bed advanced medical center, named in recognition of a $75 million gift from the Joan and Irwin Jacobs family, includes advanced surgery, cancer care, cardiac rehabilitation, clinical trials birthing options and more.

UC San Diego joins the National Microbiome Initiative, an effort to better understand microbiomes and develop tools to protect and restore healthy microbiome function. The initiative puts the spotlight on UC San Diego’s own Microbiome and Microbial Sciences Initiative.

Owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Research Vessel Sally Ride joins the university’s fleet. The state-of-the-art ship honors the legacy of the late Sally Ride, the first American woman in space and a member of the UC San Diego physics faculty.

The UC San Diego Blue Line debuts downtown as part of a new partnership to extend trolley service from the border of Mexico to the university’s campus in La Jolla. The project includes nine new stops that will transform the way people access and experience UC San Diego.

The Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute Building opens. The seven-story building is home to the Clinical and Translational Research Institute, established in 2010 as part of a national consortium created to energize bench-to-bedside efforts.

UC San Diego receives a $70 million commitment from the India-based philanthropic Tata Trusts to establish the Tata Institute for Active Genetics and Society, a collaborative partnership between the university and research operations in India.

2017

Alumnus and Facebook pioneer Taner Halicioglu kicks off the Campaign for UC San Diego with a $75 million gift—the largest alumni gift the campus has ever received—to establish the Halicioglu Institute for Data Science at UC San Diego.

The inaugural class of Chancellor’s Associates Scholars celebrates graduation. The unique scholarship program opens doors to local San Diego high school students who aim to be the first in their family to attend college, yet are constrained by financial burden.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama delivers a public address to 25,000 campus and community members about “Embracing the Beauty of Diversity in our World.” The following day, he speaks to 25,000 graduates and their families as UC San Diego’s All Campus Commencement keynote speaker.

UC San Diego celebrates eminent oceanographer Walter Munk on his 100th birthday. Known as the “Einstein of the oceans,” the Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher pioneered wave and tide prediction, ocean acoustics and more.

UC San Diego students and the Academic Senate vote yes on a referendum to transition to Division I athletics. The campus is invited to join the Big West Conference, with competition beginning in the 2020-21 academic year.

Alumnus and Qualcomm co-founder Franklin Antonio donates $30 million to the university in support of programmatic expansion of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. His gift funds a new building for engineering research and education, named Franklin Antonio Hall.

2018

Four new undergraduate majors are created in response to future demand, workplace trends and alumni feedback, including business psychology, data science, oceanic and atmospheric sciences, and real estate and development.

Qualcomm Co-Founder Andrew J. Viterbi honors his father with a $50 million gift to the Department of Ophthalmology. His generous support, which creates six new faculty endowed chairs, is dedicated to advancing research, education and eye care.

The U.S. Postal Service honors the legacy of Sally Ride—pioneering astronaut, physicist and former UC San Diego educator—with the Sally Ride Forever Stamp. The first-day-of-issue dedication, which happened on campus, included a leadership panel with Billie Jean King, Ellen Ochoa and Condoleezza Rice.

UC San Diego is named the top public university in the nation for social mobility by Washington Monthly. One-third of the incoming 2018 class is the first in their family to attend a four-year college and 40 percent come from low-income households.

UC San Diego launches the Latinx/Chicanx Academic Excellence Initiative. The campuswide program, led by the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, unifies and expands services dedicated to attracting and supporting a diverse faculty, staff and student community.

2019

UC San Diego opens the Gary and Mary West Emergency Department, the first accredited unit in California to treat qualifying patients over the age of 65 in a dedicated space customized for geriatric emergency care.

The Chancellor’s Associates Scholars Program, which began in 2013 as a partnership with three local high schools, expands to eligible students from over 100 high schools, community colleges and community-based organizations across California.

The Campaign for UC San Diego achieves its $2 billion milestone three years early, raising $2 billion to transform the student experience and campus. UC San Diego is the youngest university in the nation to have completed a $2 billion fundraising campaign.

UC San Diego releases a new economic impact report, detailing how the university contributes $16.5 billion in annual economic impact in California and creates more than 100,000 jobs statewide.

NASA astronaut and Scripps Institution of Oceanography alumna Jessica Meir makes history as part of the world’s first all-female spacewalk.