UC President Recognizes Scripps' History with UC System

Director Tony Haymet
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive, 0210
La Jolla, CA 92093-0210

July 12, 2012

I am pleased to have this opportunity to extend the warmest good wishes of the entire University of California system on the occasion of the centennial celebration of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

One hundred years ago, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography joined the University of California system. And the UC system, the State of California, and the globe have been benefiting ever since. What began as a survey of the waters of the Pacific adjacent to the coast of Southern California, an enormous task its first Director, William Ritter, laid out in the early 1900s, has become, in the estimation of many, the world's most important center for global science in the oceans, the atmosphere, and the land: Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

At the heart of this extraordinary institution is the prescient vision of Director Ritter who wrote in 1912, "My ambition for it--and in this I am sure that I speak for its patrons and official friends as well as for myself--is that it should be great rather than big." Great it has certainly become.

On July 12, 1912, the papers were signed and the real property deeded, "in the consideration of the sum of ten dollars ($10.00) and other valuable considerations," to The Regents of the University of California. That had to be bargain of the century as the institution has become a tremendous asset for the University of California system and an economic engine for the region and the state.

Scripps' connection with the University of California is a deep one. First affiliated with Berkeley, then UCLA, and finally launching UC San Diego in 1960, Scripps has worked synergistically with each campus, providing scientific strongholds that offer unparalleled opportunities for students to learn and excel, as well as for scientists to collaborate with leaders in their fields. In the 1950s, Scripps' legendary Director Roger Revelle lobbied with great determination to have the next UC campus established in San Diego, knowing that Scripps could serve as an anchor to an amazing new campus. And in just 50 short years, UC San Diego has become one of the world's leading research universities.

With more than a century of experience and expertise built upon the extremely talented faculty, researchers, students, and staff, Scripps remains at the forefront of innovation and exploration. Scripps possesses an unsurpassed ability to explore the ocean, with ever more technically savvy floats, gliders, buoys, and vessels. It also has the ability to process and analyze the massive amount of data generated from this exploration, turning the raw data into societally relevant findings. A world leader in climate change research, deep ocean exploration, and marine drug discovery, Scripps continues to seek answers to tomorrow's most pressing questions. Through the broad public reach of Birch Aquarium at Scripps and a prolific, much-cited body of scientific literature, Scripps disseminates those answers locally, nationally, and internationally.

With a sense of great pride and admiration, I congratulate you and all of your students, academics, and staff on the 100th anniversary of the formal vesting of Scripps Institution of Oceanography with the University of California. With a sense of excitement and awe, we look forward to the scientific breakthroughs of the next hundred years.

With best wishes, I am,

Sincerely yours,

Mark G. Yudof
President

Related Video: The Second Century of Discovery - Scripps Institution of Oceanography