Will Resign as Chancellor at End of Academic Year; Search for New Chancellor Formally Begins

Ralph J. Cicerone, chancellor of the University of California, Irvine, has been elected the 21st president of the National Academy of Sciences -- one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious scientific societies.

Cicerone will assume the NAS presidency in Washington, D.C., July 1, 2005. He succeeds Bruce Alberts, a cell biologist who is completing his second six-year term as president, the maximum allowed by the academy's bylaws.

"In my 16 years at UCI, the campus has made great strides in its capacity to benefit our students and the lives of people in Orange County and beyond through education, community involvement, research innovations and contributions to economic growth," said Cicerone. "I'm extremely enthusiastic about what the future holds for UCI and take immense pride in the university, its faculty, staff and students."

Cicerone, who also is professor of chemistry and the Daniel G. Aldrich, Jr. Chair in Earth System Science, will be leaving the university after 16 years of service -- first as founder of the Department of Earth System Science, then as dean of the School of Physical Sciences, where he recruited outstanding faculty and strengthened the curriculum and outreach programs. Since Cicerone became UCI's fourth chancellor in 1998, the university has undergone enormous growth and change, while building an international reputation in fields as diverse as Earth system science, stem cell research, criminology, digital art and writing.

At the time Cicerone's tenure as chancellor began, UCI had nearly 18,000 students and 1,200 faculty members. Today, UCI has more than 24,000 students, 1,400 faculty members, 8,100 staff, and has an annual economic impact on Orange County of about $3 billion.

UCI has become more selective in undergraduate admissions. In 1996, the campus admitted 100 percent of UC-eligible applicants, while today approximately 50 percent of UC-eligible applicants are admitted. The mean SAT I score of UCI freshmen is now fourth in the UC system, and in 2004, a record 5,822 degrees were awarded, compared to 3,880 in 1998.

Graduate student numbers also have continued to climb. In 2004, the total graduate enrollment of 4,925 -- including general campus graduate students and health sciences students – was 19.8 percent of UCI's total enrollment -- the highest percentage since about 1970.

Graduate student financial support has more than doubled since 1998-99. Fellowship and need-based aid alone rose from $9.2 million to $18.6 million.

The recruitment of new tenure-track faculty has increased by 25 percent from 1998, with one-third of the current faculty arriving at UCI during the past six years.

Faculty honors have been both distinguished and generous. Most recently, Distinguished Professor-in-Residence Irwin Rose of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, becoming the campus' third Nobel laureate, following two prizes awarded in 1995 to Frederick Reines in physics and F. Sherwood Rowland in chemistry. In the past decade, at least 20 more UCI faculty have gained membership in prestigious national academies. Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Francisco Ayala received the 2001 National Medal of Science, and the number of endowed chairs at UCI increased from 20 to 60.

In 2003-04, incoming research funds reached a record $249 million, double the figure of six years earlier. Most of the awards arose from national competitions through federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. UCI received its largest ever NSF grant in 2002 -- $14.2 million for math and science education outreach.

During the last six years, UCI has established the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences -- the first computer science school in the UC system. The university opened new facilities, such as John V. Croul Hall for research in the Earth sciences, the Robert R. Sprague Family Foundation Hall in the Biomedical Research Center, the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, the Dottie and George Hewitt Research Hall for medical science studies, and new state-of-the-art student housing. Other centers of research and scholarship also have flourished, ranging from the National Fuel Cell Research Center to the International Center for Writing and Translation.

UCI will soon begin building the UCI Arts Plaza designed by Maya Lin as a venue for performances and exhibits, and construction of computer sciences' Donald Bren Hall is underway. An expanded Student Center also is scheduled, along with a new Cross-Cultural Center. Three new women's sports -- golf, water polo, and indoor track and field -- have been created, and baseball has been restored at the Division I level.

Of enormous significance to the School of Medicine is the new UCI hospital, for which construction will begin this year at UCI Medical Center in Orange. The center is now rated one of the nation's best hospitals in several specialty areas, and a new university hospital will further transform health care in the region with state-of-the-art medical technologies and the expertise of health care professionals who are among the best in their fields.

Private support to UCI rose to $66.3 million in 2003-04 from $57.3 million in 2002-03. Since 1999, the university has seen generous naming gifts for The Henry Samueli School of Engineering (1999), the Claire Trevor School of the Arts (2000), and the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (2004), providing endowment support for the students and faculties of those schools.

Today, UCI is one of 62 universities in the U.S. and Canada elected to membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. UCI also is ranked the 12th best public university in U.S. News & World Report's 2004 annual rankings. Among both private and public colleges, UCI ranks 43rd.

In addition to his achievements as chancellor, Cicerone's atmospheric research has been widely acclaimed, and has involved him in shaping science policy at both national and international levels. In 1997, he received a United Nations Environment Program Ozone Award for research in protecting the Earth's ozone layer. His research also was recognized on the citation for the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to UCI colleague F. Sherwood Rowland.

The Franklin Institute recognized his outstanding contributions to the understanding of greenhouse gases, ozone depletion and biogeochemistry by selecting Cicerone as the 1999 laureate for the Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science. One of the most prestigious American awards in science, the Bower also recognizes his public policy leadership in protecting the global environment. Most recently, the World Cultural Council gave Cicerone its 2004 Albert Einstein World Award of Science for his research of "true benefit to mankind."

In 2001, Cicerone led a National Academy of Sciences study of the current state of climate change and its impact on the environment and human health, requested by President Bush. The American Geophysical Union, the world's largest society of Earth scientists, awarded him its 2002 Roger Revelle Medal, which recognized outstanding research contributions to the understanding of Earth's atmospheric processes, biogeochemical cycles or other key elements of the climate system.

Cicerone is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He has served as president of the American Geophysical Union and he received its James B. Macelwane Award in 1979 for outstanding contributions to geophysics. He also has served on the Council of the National Academy of Sciences and its Board on Sustainable Development. He has published about 100 refereed papers and 200 conference papers, and has presented invited testimony to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on a number of occasions.

University of California President Robert C. Dynes has named a 17-member committee to advise him in the search for the next UCI chancellor. For information, visit: http://www.uci.edu/chancellor_search. To view the NAS release on Cicerone’s appointment, visit: http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/02072005?OpenDocument


About the National Academy of Sciences: Founded in 1863, the National Academy of Sciences has about 2,000 members and 350 foreign associates, more than 190 of whom have won Nobel Prizes. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council (NRC) comprise the National Academies, which bring together committees of experts to address critical national issues and give advice to the federal government and the public. The NAS president is a full-time employee of this private, non-profit organization, located at the Academy's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and also is the chair of the NRC.

About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California, Irvine is a top-ranked public university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing University of California campuses, with more than 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 1,400 faculty members. The second-largest employer in dynamic Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3 billion.