In honor of UC Santa Cruz’s upcoming 60th anniversary year, UC Santa Cruz Magazine editors and designers dug through the archives to present some notable campus milestones and achievements during each of the university’s six decades.
During the 2005–2014 decade, we discovered a searing campus tragedy that prompted a leadership shift; significant recognitions for the campus, faculty, and alumni; legacies established with openings and launchings; research breakthroughs and prominence that put UC Santa Cruz on the world stage; a heartbreaking death that inspired an outpouring of support; historic events; and more.
Put on your best Slug pride gear, close your eyes and imagine your favorite mind-expanding view of the endless sky over Monterey Bay, and take a tour with us through the years.
A campus tragedy, a leadership shift
Denice D. Denton was invested as the ninth chancellor of UC Santa Cruz in 2005 in a campus ceremony presided over by UC President Robert C. Dynes. In 2006, Denton died in San Francisco by apparent suicide. George Blumenthal was appointed acting chancellor and, in 2007, named chancellor.
Openings and launches
A commitment to humanism
Humanities 1 building seen in December 2023. (Photo by Nick Gonzales)
In 2007, the campus opened its its new Humanities Building. The six-story Humanities 1 Building houses nearly all faculty, departmental, and administrative offices for the Humanities Division. The $29.3 million complex includes a 300-seat Humanities Lecture Hall, a landscaped courtyard with redwood benches, and a four-story adjacent structure that provides additional classroom space and computer labs for both the Humanities and Social Sciences divisions. The complex was part of a renewed commitment to the humanities, which can often be overshadowed by high-profile research in science and technology. But leaders noted that it is essential for modern society to understand scientific achievements from a human perspective, saying humanities research is more relevant than ever to how we view the world.
The Dead live on
The Grateful Dead announced in 2008 that the band would donate its archives to UC Santa Cruz at a press conference held in the poster room of San Francisco’s historic Fillmore auditorium. The focal point of the collection would be a dedicated room named “Dead Central,” where both academic researchers and the general public could access the archive. In 2012, the Grateful Dead Archive held its public opening at the University Library.
Digital Arts at the forefront
In 2010, UC Santa Cruz celebrated the arts and a commitment to collaboration, innovation, and community when it officially opened its new Digital Arts Research Center.
Hey hey, Hay Barn
With a $5 million gift from the Helen and Will Webster Foundation, UC Santa Cruz in 2013 reinvented the historic Cowell Ranch Hay Barn, dating back to the late 1800s, as the centerpiece of a revived campus entrance and new home for many of its innovative environmental sustainability programs.
Serious games
UCSC started a very popular computer game design major in 2006, the first of its kind in the UC system. In 2023, the Computer Game Design program was ranked among the top five in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.
Teaching the teachers
Also in 2006, the California Teach Program launched to boost the numbers of highly qualified math and science teachers.
A heartbreaking death, an outpouring of support
Alumnus Gabriel Zimmerman (Stevenson ’02, sociology), community outreach director for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was one of six people fatally wounded in the 2011 Tucson shooting rampage. Inspired by Zimmerman’s commitment to public service, UCSC alumni helped launch a scholarship fund in his honor.
Research breakthroughs and prominence
Prison overcrowding’s effects
A landmark ruling in 2009 by a three-judge panel—ordering the State of California to drastically reduce its prison population—cited analysis and trial testimony by psychology professor Craig Haney.
Telescopic vision
Also in 2009, a team of UCSC physicists at the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics played a leading role in the development of the main instrument on NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
Evolutionary insights
After extracting ancient DNA from the 40,000-year-old bones of Neanderthals, scientists in 2010 obtained a draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome, yielding important new insights into the evolution of modern humans—including evidence that modern humans interbred with Neanderthals.
The beat goes on
In 2011, Ronan the sea lion became the first nonhuman mammal convincingly shown to be able to keep a beat, challenging the leading theory about the origins of rhythmic ability. Scientists trained Ronan to bob her head in time with rhythmic sounds, then showed that she could transfer this skill to tempos and music she hadn’t heard before.
Campus firsts
Town-gown accord
In 2008, the university forged a historic agreement that ended litigation related to the UCSC Long Range Development Plan and enabled the campus to implement its academic plan, proceed with construction of the important Biomedical Sciences Building, and further meet the educational needs of students and the state. The agreement was between the City and County of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz and the UC Regents, the Coalition to Limit University Expansion, and 11 individual litigants.
The Campaign for UC Santa Cruz
UC Santa Cruz launched a $300-million fundraising campaign—its first comprehensive campaign—in support of students, research, and other initiatives.
Significant recognitions
Pulitzer pride
Alumna Dana Priest, a Washington Post reporter, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for her work exposing the government’s secret “black site” prisons. She went on to win journalism’s highest honor again in 2008, this time for her exposé of the mistreatment of wounded veterans at Walter Reed Hospital.
Historic place
In 2007, UCSC’s Cowell Lime Works Historic District was granted approval for listing on the National Register of Historic Places by the State Historical Resources Commission.
National honor
President Obama congratulates Sandra Faber after awarding her the National Medal of Science. (Photo by Ryan K Morris/National Science & Technology Medals Foundation)
UC Santa Cruz astronomer Sandra Faber received the National Medal of Science in 2013, presented by President Barack Obama at the White House.
A curtain comes down
UC Santa Cruz decided to stop hosting Shakespeare Santa Cruz after the 2013 holiday production because of ongoing financial difficulties.