From Nobels Bring Prestige to California Colleges:
“UC is not just Berkeley,” said Bill Parker, vice chancellor for research at the fast-growing Irvine campus, located in the middle of Orange County’s suburban sprawl. “The campuses formed 30, 40 years ago are now emerging as some of the best in the country.”
Since 1994, UC Irvine researchers have collected three Nobels, including one last week. Santa Barbara has picked up five in the past six years, including two in recent weeks.
By comparison, UCLA got two Nobels in the past decade, while Berkeley — the system’s first campus and consistently rated the nation’s top public university by U.S. News & World Report — collected three.
The stockpiling of prizes in Irvine and Santa Barbara comes after years of steady enrollment growth prompted in part by crowded conditions at other UC sites. Undergraduate applications to UC Santa Barbara have doubled over the past 10 years and the mean GPA of enrolled freshmen has climbed to 3.71.
The secret? Specialization:
To build their academic reputations, UC administrators have concentrated on a handful of disciplines and avoided spreading resources too thin.
“Not everybody can be good at everything any more, so you try to focus on those things that have a competitive advantage,” said David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, a Washington-based lobbying group.
Irvine zeroed in on chemistry and molecular and evolutionary biology — though its sports teams haven’t dropped their quirky anteater mascot.
Give ‘em the tongue! Give ‘em the tongue! Zot! Goooooooooooo, ‘eaters!