University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley (also referred to as Cal, California, Berkeley, and UC Berkeley) is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. The university occupies 6,651 acres (2,692 ha) with the central campus resting on approximately 200 acres (80.9 ha).^[3]

The University was founded in 1868 in a merger of the private College of California and the public Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College. Berkeley was a founding member of the Association of American Universities. Sixty-two Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the university as faculty, researchers, or alumni.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked UC Berkeley 3rd internationally. Newsweek and Webometrics Ranking of World Universities ranked Berkeley 5th in the World. UC Berkeley ranks 1st among public universities and ranks 21st overall in the USNWR "National University" Ranking. It ranked 2nd for undergraduate engineering and 3rd for its undergraduate business program.

Berkeley physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer was the scientific director of the Manhattan Project which he personally headquartered at Los Alamos, New Mexico, during World War II. Since that time, the university has managed or co-managed the Los Alamos National Laboratory, as well as its later rival, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Cal student-athletes compete intercollegiately as the California Golden Bears. A member of both the Pacific-10 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in the NCAA, Cal students have won national titles in many sports, including football, men's basketball, baseball, softball, water polo, rugby, and crew. In addition, they have won over 100 Olympic medals. The official colors of the university and its athletic teams are Yale Blue and California Gold.

History

Sather Tower (the Campanile) looking out over the San Francisco Bay and Mount Tamalpais.

Main article: History of the University of California, Berkeley

In 1866, the land comprising the current Berkeley campus was purchased by the private College of California. Because it lacked sufficient funds to operate, it eventually merged with the state-run Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College to form the University of California, the first full-curriculum public university in the state of California. The university opened in September 1869. In 1870 Henry Durant, the founder of the College of California, became the first president. With the completion of North and South Halls in 1873, the university relocated to its Berkeley location with 167 male and 222 female students and held its first classes.^[5]

Campus

The Berkeley campus encompasses approximately 1,232 acres (5 km²), though the "central campus" occupies only the low-lying western 178 acres (0.7 km²) of this area. Of the remaining 1000 acres (4 km²), approximately 200 acres (0.8 km²) are occupied by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; other facilities above the main campus include the Lawrence Hall of Science and several research units, notably the Space Sciences Laboratory, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, an undeveloped 800 acres (3.2 km²) ecological preserve, the University of California Botanical Garden and a recreation center in Strawberry Canyon. To the west of the central campus is the downtown business district of Berkeley; to the northwest is the neighborhood of North Berkeley, Berkeley, California, including the so-called Gourmet Ghetto, a commercial district known for high quality dining due to the presence of such world-renowned restaurants as Chez Panisse.

Student housing

UC Berkeley's student housing accommodates a variety of personal and academic preferences and styles. Presently, the university offers two years of guaranteed housing for entering freshmen, and one year for entering transfer students. The immediately surrounding community offers apartments, Greek (fraternity and sorority) housing, and the Berkeley Student Co-ops.

Organization and administration

Berkeley is the oldest of the ten major campuses of the University of California. The University of California is governed by a 26-member Board of Regents, 18 of which are appointed by the Governor of California to 12-year terms, 7 serving as ex officio members, and a single student regent.^[38] The position of Chancellor was created in 1952 to lead individual campuses. The Board appointed Robert J. Birgeneau to be the 9th Chancellor of the university in 2004.^[39] 12 vice chancellors report directly to the Chancellor. The Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost serves as the chief academic officer and is the office to which the deans of the 14 colleges and schools report.^[40]

Haas School of Business

Berkeley's 130-plus academic departments and programs are organized into 14 colleges and schools.^[41] "Colleges" are both undergraduate and graduate, while "Schools" are generally graduate only, though some offer undergraduate majors, minors, or courses.

• College of Chemistry
• College of Engineering
• College of Environmental Design
• College of Letters and Science
• College of Natural Resources
• Graduate School of Education
• Graduate School of Journalism
• Haas School of Business
• Goldman School of Public Policy
• School of Information
• School of Law (Boalt Hall)
• School of Optometry
• School of Public Health
• School of Social Welfare

The 2006-2007 budget totaled $1.7 billion; 33% came from the State of California. In 2006-2007, 7,850 donors contributed $267.9 million and the endowment was valued at $2.89 billion.^[41]

UC Berkeley employs 24,700 people directly and employees are permitted to unionize and are represtented by AFSCME, CNA, CUE, UAW, UC-AFT, and UPTE.^[41][42]