Thirty years ago, if someone thought of San Diego, they would think of one thing: Navy town. But consider how far our city has come since—a hub of the latest innovations, from high-tech to bio-tech, a magnet for the brightest and most talented. San Diego has become a destination, and not just for our sun and surf.
I see a parallel course for UC San Diego. Our academic history has always been outstanding, but as a campus, we come from humble beginnings. Many of you reading this will remember taking classes in Quonset huts and treading well-worn paths through eucalyptus groves. That was our past, and as alumni we are proud of those beginnings, just as we are proud of the next chapter for this great university.
When I was a student, I couldn’t have dreamed of the advances in store for our campus. The students of tomorrow will commute via Light Rail; will walk downstairs from their dorm room to the restaurant, the maker space or the classroom right below. And for us alumni, imagine an Alumni Center to welcome and reconnect us with the intellectual and creative offerings of the university and its students.
When it is all done, when the cranes have left and concrete sets, we alumni will be the ones who remember. We’ll be the ones who stand in wonder—knowing what it was, marveling at what it has become and feeling all the while what it means to be a Triton.
With Triton pride,
Robert Brownlie, ’85
President, UC San Diego Alumni