In the few short months since I joined the UCLA family, I have been enormously impressed by the caliber of our students, faculty, alumni, donors, volunteers, and staff. All of them embody the very best of what a university can be.

UCLA continues to be the most popular university in the country, receiving more applications for admission than any other. Our faculty boasts numerous awards and honors, from Nobel Prizes and Guggenheim fellowships to memberships in the most prestigious academic societies. Our students are nothing short of dazzling. This community of scholars exemplifies the uncompromising standards that are the hallmark of UCLA.

None of this would be possible, of course, without your support. Even as a public university, UCLA receives less than 15% of its operating budget from the State of California. The margin of excellence – the resources that enable us to attract and retain the world’s finest faculty and student scholars and to fuel innovative programs – comes from private gifts. Philanthropy is truly the defining force in maintaining UCLA’s extraordinary upward trajectory.

In remarkably short order, UCLA has become one of the world’s premier universities, and I am deeply honored to be able to help shape its future. With your help, and The UCLA Foundation’s leadership, we can magnify the greatness of this incredibile institution.

Gene D. Block
Chancellor