University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, California) is a public research university in Berkeley , California. Founded in 1868, it is the oldest campus in the University of California system. The university offers more than 350 degree programs through its 14 colleges and schools, which enroll some 31,000 undergraduates and 12,000 graduate students. Berkeley is ranked among the top universities in the world by major educational publications.

Berkeley is a founding member of the Association of American Universities and hosts a number of leading research institutes, including the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and the Space Sciences Laboratory. It has also established and maintains close ties with three national laboratories in Berkeley, Livermore and Los Alamos.The university cooperates regionally with its sister campus, the University of California , San Francisco, offering a joint medical program and other dual-degree programs, and with Stanford University’s athletic rival.

Berkeley’s alumni, faculty, and researchers rank 107 Nobel laureates (34 alumni), 25 Turing Award winners, 14 Fields Medalists, and 19 Wolf Prize winners. Its students and alumni have won 62 MacArthur Fellowships, 15 Academy Awards, 25 Pulitzer Prizes and 207 Olympic Medals. The university has played a leading role in a number of scientific advances. In the 1960s, the campus was recognized for its student-led Free Speech Movement and opposition to the Vietnam War. More recently, Berkeley has emerged as a leading producer university; its alumni have founded or co-founded a number of prominent companies.

Today, the University of California refers to the expanded state-wide university system, of which the Berkeley campus is the original institution and officially named the University of California, Berkeley. Its name is often shortened to California or Cal, especially when referring to UC Berkeley’s athletic teams, the California Golden Bears. The University is discouraged from using terms such as the University of California at Berkeley, U.C. Berkeley, Cal Berkeley, and UCB to refer to it in official contexts. Berkeley is not affiliated with the Berklee College of Music or Berkeley College.

The University of California is governed by a 26-member Board of Regents, of which 18 are appointed to 12-year terms by the Governor of California, 7 serve as ex officio members, a single student regent and a non-voting student regent. The position of chancellor was established in 1952 to lead individual campuses. Nicholas Dirks was appointed 10th chancellor of the university in 2013, after Robert J. Birgeneau, originally appointed in 2004, announced his resignation. 12 Vice-Chancellors report directly to the Chancellor. The Executive Vice-Chancellor and Provost serves as Chief Academic Officer and is the office reported to the deans of the 14 colleges and schools.

Berkeley is a large, primarily residential Tier One research university with a majority of its enrollment in undergraduate programs, but also offers a comprehensive doctoral degree programme. Since 1949, the University has been accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges of the Senior College and the University Commission. The university is one of only two UC campuses on a semester calendar (the other is UC Merced). Berkeley offers 106 bachelor’s degrees, 88 master’s degrees, 97 research-focused doctoral programs and 31 professionally-focused degrees. In 2013–2014, the university awarded 7,565 bachelors, 2,610 master’s or professional degrees and 930 doctoral degrees.

Berkeley does not have a medical school, but has a long history of collaboration with the UCSF, the University of California Medical School, and the San Francisco Graduate Health Sciences Campus. Sister campuses, the two oldest in the UC system, offer the UC Berkeley – UCSF Joint Medical Program and the Berkeley – UCSF Bioengineering Graduate Program and are partners in the Innovative Genomics Institute and, along with Stanford, Biohub.