With the beginning of a new year, the start of the academic quarter, and the inauguration of a new President, it is natural to reflect on the past and to plan for the future. At UC San Diego Division of Physical Sciences, we have a great deal of pride in our past and what our Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mathematics and Physics have accomplished in a short period. The Division shows no sign of losing its tremendous pace of academic and scholastic achievement, as evident in our growth, student success and international recognition.

At UC San Diego, we are fortunate to teach some of the brightest students in the world. Given the accomplishments of our alumni in diverse settings, it is easy to see that the caliber of our students has always been a cut above the rest. It is our privilege to touch the lives of over 54,000 students that the Division’s Departments teach on an annual basis. Through the investment of our alumni and friends, we continue to recognize the tradition of our students excelling in and out of the classroom through the Dean’s Awards for Excellence.

Excellence begets excellence, and the Division of Physical Sciences and its Departments, since the inception of UC San Diego, has been a place for the world’s leading scientists and mathematicians to thrive. The tradition set by our forbearers like Nobel Prize Winners Harold Urey and Maria Goeppert-Mayer is alive and well with the likes of our current Nobel Prize winning faculty Mario Molina and Roger Tsien, our most recent Nobel Prize winner.

The Division continues to be responsive to the needs of the State and the region in solving some of the most critical problems facing our society, (link to relevant news release?) advancing science and mathematics, serving the community, by creating programs that showcase how science and mathematics impact our daily lives and educating the next generation of entrepreneurs, researchers, teachers and leaders.