University of California, Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is a coeducational public university located in Santa Barbara County, California. UCSB's campus was annexed by the city of Santa Barbara and thus is technically part of the city, though it is closer in proximity to Goleta. The campus is divided into three parts: Main campus, Storke campus, and West campus. The campuses surround the community of Isla Vista. It is one of ten University of California campuses.

History

UCSB was founded in 1909 as a small school for training public school teachers, and four years later moved to a 13 acre (53,000 m²) campus in the Riviera area above town. By 1935, the school was called Santa Barbara State College ("SB State"). In 1944, "SB State" joined the University of California system, and upgraded its curriculum to provide master's degrees. Ten years later, UCSBC (as it was then called) moved to a former World War II Marine air base (an old helipad still exists on campus point) and began building a new campus at its present site. In 1958, UCSBC was renamed UCSB, and steadily progressed to a nationally ranked research university that currently offers almost 100 bachelor's, 50 master's and over 30 Ph.D. programs.

Academics

UCSB was originally a small independent teacher's college, but it was designated a University of California campus after World War II during the UC's postwar expansion and was relocated and rebuilt accordingly. UCSB now has three undergraduate colleges: the College of Letters & Science, the College of Engineering, and the College of Creative Studies. The College of Creative Studies offers students an alternative approach to education by allowing them to pursue advanced, independent work in the arts, mathematics, and sciences. The campus also has two professional schools, the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education.

UCSB also hosts eight National Research Centers, including the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (of which Stephen Hawking, and many other of the world's prominent theoretical physicists hold offices) and the Materials Research Laboratory. (Five of these Centers are supported by the National Science Foundation). Its faculty includes 5 Nobel laureates, 14 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 26 members of the National Academy of Engineering, and 12 members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

UCSB is third in applications received in the UC system, behind UCLA and UCSD, and was the fourth most selective in admissions in 2005.

Athletics

UCSB's sports teams compete in the Big West Conference, with the exception of the men's and women's water polo teams and the men's volleyball team, which are in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Santa Barbara is best known for its women's basketball and men's soccer teams, which are often among the best in the country. In 2004, the men's soccer team advanced to the NCAA championship match where it lost to Indiana University Bloomington on penalty kicks. In 2005, the women's basketball team won its unprecedented ninth straight Big West Conference Championship. The team had its best year in history during the 2004 season when it advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 where it lost to eventual champion University of Connecticut.

The Gauchos men's basketball team had its best years in the late '80s and early '90s under coach Jerry Pimm.

UCSB's most famous athletic alumnus is NBA star Brian Shaw, who has played for the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers.

UCSB was one of several California-based universities to discontinue their football programs during the 1990s.

SportsRadio and television personality Jim Rome is also a graduate of UCSB.

Reputation

In the past, UCSB had a well-deserved reputation as a "party school," though the administration has made major efforts in recent years to combat that stereotype. See the article on Isla Vista for more information.

In recent years, a number of professors in UCSB have won Nobel Prizes in different subject areas. [1] Additionally, UCSB is the only institution to have two nobel prize winners in the same year on two separate occasions.

UCSB was named one of America's 25 Hottest Colleges of 2005 by Newsweek and is currently ranked 45th among National Universities by US News and World Report. Admissions are fairly selective, with a freshman admissions average GPA of 3.99 for the Fall 2005 class.

Campus

Academic buildings

Cheadle Hall

The Office of the Chancellor and the main office of the College of Letters and Science are in this building.

CCS Trailer

The CCS Trailer is the hearquarter of the College of Creative Studies (CCS), which is a small, special college in UCSB. The trailer is officially known as trailer #494. It houses the offices of the Dean of CCS; a lounge, a computer room and classrooms for CCS students.

Kerr Hall

Home to the Learning Labs, Television Services, Media Equipment, and Instructional Resources.

South Hall

South Hall is located next to the picturesque Storke Bell Tower. It houses the Department of Mathematics, the Department of English, the Department of Black Studies, and the Department of Chicano and Chicana Studies.

Residence halls

There are eight Residence Halls at UCSB, seven of which are located at the Main campus, and one of which, Francisco Torres, is located at the Storke campus north of Isla Vista. The Main campus Residence Halls are found in two different locations. On the west end of campus are the "Chi 5", five Residence Halls that are named after the California Channel Islands.

• Anacapa

    -Best beach access and view
    -biggest party hall

• Santa Cruz

    -close to beach
    -nice facilities
    -close to DLG (dining common)

• Santa Rosa

    -African American scholar hall
    -close to DLG

• San Nicolas

    -Tower style
    -closest to lagoon and Ortega dining common

• San Miguel

    -right next to San Nicolas

The two other Residence Halls, San Rafael and Manzanita Village, are located on the east side of campus and primarily house continuing and transfer students. Manzanita Village was completed in 2002.

Other

• KCSB 91.9 broadcasts from beneath Storke Tower.
• The Lagoon is a large body of water near the coast line, between San Rafael and San Miguel Residence Halls.
• The Daily Nexus is the campus newspaper.

Nobel Laureate professors

• Finn Kydland, Nobel Prize recipient, Economics, 2004
• David Gross, Nobel Prize recipient, Physics, 2004
• Alan Heeger, Nobel Prize recipient, Chemistry, 2000
• Herbert Kroemer, Nobel Prize recipient, Physics, 2000
• Walter Kohn, Nobel Prize recipient, Chemistry, 1998

Notable alumni

NASA astronauts

• Leroy Chiao M.S. '85, Ph.D. 1987
• Jose Hernandez M.S. 1986
• Joe Acaba – B.S. 1990

Other notable alumni

• Robert Ballard, oceanographer
• Richard Bey, talk show host
• Barbara Bodine, diplomat
• Benjamin Bratt, actor
• Lois Capps, member of Congress
• Lynne Cox, swimmer
• Michael Douglas, actor
• Marc Grossman, diplomat
• Jeff Henley, chairman of Oracle Corporation
• Jack Johnson, singer/songwriter
• Jason Lezak, Olympic gold medalist swimmer
• Robert Mardian, Republican party official and one of the Watergate Seven
• Mark Okrand, inventor of the Klingon language
• Gwyneth Paltrow, actress
• Tera Patrick, adult film actress
• Jim Rome, sports radio talk show host
• Richard Serra, minimalist sculptor
• Kathleen Soliah, Symbionese Liberation Army member
• Joseph C. Wilson IV, diplomat

External links

• UCSB official website