The people
The Chancellor
UC Berkeley is currently helmed by its ninth chancellor, Robert J. Birgeneau. Chancellor Birgeneau (say “BURGE-uh-no”) took office September 2004, and brought with him invaluable experience from his years as President of the University of Toronto, Dean of MIT’s School of Science, and as an internationally recognized physicist. The three themes he sees as central to his strategic campus vision are leadership, connection, and inclusion. One of his foremost goals is to create a more diverse student body, fostering a more inclusive environment at the University. As he said in his inaugural address, “As the current chancellor, I feel a moral obligation to address the issue of inclusion head-on. Ultimately, it is a fight for the soul of this institution” (cio.chance.berkeley.edu/chancellor/Birgeneau/home.htm).

Who you are
A phrase commonly heard on campus is “excellence through diversity” and for good reason—incredibly intelligent people of various ethnic origins, religions, nationalities, sexual orientations, economic backgrounds, ages, and physical abilities will be all around you. While Berkeley admits only about a quarter of the undergraduates who apply, the campus continues to provide opportunities to a wide spectrum of California’s population. The information below was provided by the Office of Student Research (osr.berkeley.edu).

Ethnic composition, fall 2007
24,636 undergraduates

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Content last revised August 2008.