Author Description

In UCI: Bright Past, Brilliant Future, authors Sharon L. Roan and John Westcott describe how over the course of 50 years the campus proved to be fertile ground for advances in medicine, technology, art, education, science and the study of the human condition. Nobel Prize winners replaced cowboys. Writers of everything from Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction to computer code supplanted campfire storytellers. And UC Irvine became the youngest university to gain membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. The stories in this 50th anniversary book demonstrate how UCI has stayed true to its roots; the founding leaders and faculty were steeped in the pioneering spirit that defined their predecessors on the land. They established traditions of rigorous academics, progressive research and interdisciplinary teaching, and independent thinking. From the classrooms and labs, businesses were born, jobs created and discoveries made. While it's impossible to predict the future, current leaders interviewed for this book are unanimous in their belief that the unstoppable Anteater spirit will contribute to a brilliant future. Contents: 1. Ranch of Destiny; 2. Concrete Inspiration; 3. Bucking Academic Tradition; 4. You Make your Own Future; 5. Campus at Catalyst.