Happy New Year! Although 2022 has not started as any of us would have wanted, I hope that you are staying healthy and safe. I appreciate the dedication, hard work, and flexibility demonstrated by our faculty and staff in continuing to serve our students during these challenging times, both on campus and in the pivot to remote instruction. We all hope that we can resume in-person instruction soon.

The new quarter provides an opportunity to recognize the latest campus accolades and achievements. Recent faculty honors include announcement of the 2021-22 Academic Senate Distinguished Faculty Awards and two new members of the National Academy of Inventors. From a novel tech-ready fabric to environmental health disparities, UCI research continues to garner interest and external funding.

We are grateful and excited about the naming gift from Jack and Shanaz Langson to support the construction and operation of a state-of-the-art facility to house the UCI Institute and Museum of California Art. We also take pride in the Fall 2021 cohort of new students; nearly half of in-state freshmen are the first generation in their family to attend college, and the number of students from underrepresented groups jumped 10% over the previous year.

Please read on for more campus highlights. I wish you all a happy and productive new year.

Hal Stern
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
Chancellor's Professor, Statistics