There are many educational institutions that you can find in the world. However, some of the best ones are located in the United States. One of the many great universities that you can find in the United States is the University of California. It is located in Berkeley and is commonly known as UC Berkeley, it is a public research university and is an excellent one too. What makes UC Berkeley significant and unique is the fact that it was founded back in 1868, this makes it one of the oldest universities in the world. UC Berkeley was established in 1868 by the merger of the College of California and the public Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts College in Oakland. One of the reasons why the state of California is famous in the United States is because it is home to the University of California.
The University of California, Berkeley not only is a great institution, but it also manages three energy laboratories including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. UC Berkeley offers almost 350 undergraduate and graduate degrees. Another fact that makes UC Berkeley a great institution is the fact that the faculty, researchers, and alumni of the University have won 92 Nobel Prizes, 22 Turing Awards and many more awards of high stature. The fact that the university is almost a 150 years old makes it a great place to visit and many people do so. There are many things to see and learn at the UC Berkeley, and that is the another reason to why it is so popular.
History Of The UC Berkeley
As mentioned earlier, the UC Berkeley was established as a result of the merger of the College of California with the Mining, Agricultural, and Mechanical Arts College. This was done because the College of California did not have the funds that were required for the smooth operations of the institution. In the beginning, the UC Berkeley only had ten faculty members and 40 students. The university was named after Berkeley in honor of the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley. The first president of the UC Berkeley was Henry Durant who was also the founder of the College of California.
The UC Berkeley is almost 150 years old. This means that the university has a pretty rich history. It has been through the World War II, during which one of the physics professor of the UC Berkeley professor J. Robert Oppenheimer was put in charge of the Manhattan project.
The UC Berkeley had also received quite big donations too, especially when state funds started to decline and they were forced to use their private resources. The amount of money that UC Berkeley was able to raise by the 2008-12 campaign was around $3.13 billion. This means that UC Berkeley does not have a problem with funds. Instead, it has it covered pretty good. The University of California was normally shortened to just “California” or “Cal” Although now most people call it the UC Berkeley, the athletic teams still call it “Cal”.
Education
UC Berkeley is known to be a residential research university; it offers many undergraduate programs and doctoral graduate programs too. UC Berkeley is one of the two UC campuses, the other campus is IC Merced, and both operate on a semester calendar. If you map out the degrees the university offers then you will find out that there are a total of 106 Bachelor’s degrees, 88 master’s degrees and 97 doctoral programs. The university has more than 130 academic departments, and all of them offer different programs and diplomas.
UC Berkeley has many schools and colleges. The colleges are for both graduates and undergraduates while the schools are for graduates only. One thing about the UC Berkeley is that it does not have its medical schools; instead, it offers a joint medical program with the University of California, San Francisco.
All of the different courses and programs that are offered at the UC Berkeley is brilliant, and that is what makes it one of the best universities in the world.
Faculty
UC Berkeley is known to be a highly research-oriented institution. According to facts and figures, the university spends a total of $744 million just on research and development of R&D. For this purpose, the university requires a higher number of members. That is why UC Berkeley is home to 1,600 full-time faculty members and 500 part-time faculty members who are only required to do researches on various topics and fields.
The faculty members of the UC Berkeley include Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, Sloan Fellows, Wolf Prize winners and Pritzker Prize winners. According to a survey, the average faculty at the UC Berkeley are Democrats and not Republicans.
Libraries
The libraries at the UC Berkeley are fantastic. The university is home to 32 libraries which come together to make the fourth largest academic library in the United States. However, the UC Berkeley libraries are growing at a pace similar to that of the competitors. If you read about the UC Berkeley libraries, then you will come to know that they contain over 11 million volumes and 70,000 titles. The libraries alone cover a total area of 12 acres which makes it one of the largest libraries of the world.
Ranking
According to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the UC Berkeley is ranked 6 th in the world for reputation and 13 th for academics. The ranks for both of these fields are expected to rise for the UC Berkeley.
Campus
If you take a look at the campus of the UC Berkeley, then you will be surely amazed. This is because the architecture of the entire campus is breathtaking and you will never want to leave those corridors. The whole university covers a total area of 1,232 acres or 499 ha. The campus of the UC Berkeley is also home to various museums that include the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, the University of California Museum of Paleontology and lastly the Lawrence Hall of Science.
The campus of the UC Berkeley also packs a bit of nature as well. The most significant part of the university in this aspect would be the strawberry creek. The stream here is wonderful and makes it way across different regions of the University before it finally disappears underground. However, there are two ends of the stream, one of which disappears underground while the other one keeps on moving forward. Another fun fact about the nature found in the UC Berkeley is that the trees here are date back to 1870 which means that they are almost as old as the university itself.
Conclusion
The UC Berkeley is undoubtedly one of the greatest universities in the world. Everything from its campus to the quality of education is amazing, and that is why many students dream about getting enrolled in this amazing university. If you ever get a chance to enter the UC Berkeley, then you should take it because many things that you see here will not be available elsewhere.
Many of the things at the university, including most of the architecture, is centuries old, and if you are a person who likes old architectural designs, then you will surely love this university. If the College of California had not merged itself with other institutions, then it would have probably been impossible to find the UC Berkeley where it stands today.