In some places, fall means cooler weather. But at UCR, this is when things heat up.
As many of you saw in Hot Scots, our student welcome video, I recently joined UCR student Brooke Jamieson to eat increasingly hot chicken wings while having a conversation about some of the things we want every Highlander to know: stay open to learning in new ways, find your community, experience all that UCR has to offer, and ask for help when you need it.
With classes beginning tomorrow, you can feel that energy on campus. And we begin the year with new reasons to celebrate.
What’s new for Fall 2026
Yesterday, U.S. News & World Report released its 2027 college rankings, naming UCR the No. 37 public university and, for the sixth time in eight years, the No. 1 university in the nation for social mobility.
Last year, when UC President James B. Milliken spoke at my inauguration, he noted that if a sports team were champion five of seven years, we would call it a dynasty. Now we can update the record: six of eight.
Student success remains one of our most important challenges. We must keep looking for ways to help more students thrive at UCR and graduate.
That work takes many forms, including creating spaces that support how students learn.
This fall, our new Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Facility opens its doors, adding much-needed classroom and studio space. On October 13, from 10-11 a.m., we will celebrate this major addition to campus with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. We invite you to attend. Please RSVP by October 6.
AI Conference
Over the last few months, the stakes around artificial intelligence have become harder to ignore. Leaders and former employees of major AI companies called for slowing development of the most advanced models. The debate over how, or whether, to put guardrails around AI has grown more urgent.
While the technology industry wrestles with breaches, successes, and disagreements about regulation, one thing is clear: we must keep elevating conversations about AI on our own campus.
On Thursday, October 15, the RAISE@UCR Institute and UCR AI Council will host a day-long summit exploring the future of artificial intelligence in academia. Researchers, industry leaders, staff, and students will examine UCR’s AI in teaching and learning, research and discovery, emerging challenges, and opportunities for cross-disciplinary work.
Few technologies will raise more consequential questions for universities in the years ahead. Want to attend? Register here.
Research Spotlight: Mikeal Roose, Lifetime Achievement Award
Mikeal Roose, professor emeritus of genetics, recently received an inaugural UC Regents Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for innovations with lasting impact. Over more than four decades at UCR, Roose has used plant genetics to improve citrus and other crops.
His best-known achievement is the virtually seedless Tango mandarin, developed with longtime UCR citrus breeder Timothy Williams. Roose’s career includes 11 plant patents and plant-variety protections spanning mandarins and asparagus.
Roose’s work carries forward a tradition that began with UCR’s roots as the Citrus Experiment Station, turning foundational agricultural research into innovations with modern, global, economic impact.
Tango changed the citrus industry. It now accounts for nearly one-third of California’s mandarin acreage, is grown in more than 20 countries, and is marketed in more than 50. The variety has generated more than $70 million for UCR and helped turn mandarins from a specialty fruit into a grocery-store staple.
In the application for the award, Ana Cano, CEO of Eurosemillas, S.A., which holds the commercialization and management rights for the fruit, noted that “by utilizing breeding techniques to produce seedless varieties, (Roose) ended the agricultural battles between citrus growers and beekeepers. This has had a significant impact on the citrus industry, demonstrating that his innovations offer as much societal value as they do economic profit.”
Congratulations and thank you to Professor Roose for his valuable contributions to UCR, California, and the world.
As we begin this new academic year, we have much to celebrate and many exciting opportunities ahead. Thank you for all of the work you are doing to make UCR special and the new academic year a success. I look forward to the continued progress we will make together.