The President

These insightful conversations, buttressed by the research and thoughtful input of my system-wide leadership team, have led me to formulate presidential priorities to focus our collective efforts as we head into the new academic year and beyond. Each of these four institutional priorities includes specific, measurable goals grounded in our tripartite mission of teaching, research and public service.

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Priority 1:
Expanding Opportunity and Excellence

UC’s current population does not mirror the rich diversity of the state we serve. By becoming a system that better serves students from underrepresented racial, ethnic, and geographic groups and offering debt-free pathways to undergraduates—among other initiatives—we will promote inclusive excellence and expand opportunities for students while strengthening existing programs and research. UC Investments is helping with its new UC Investments Academy, offering free professional training, mentoring and other opportunities to students throughout our system with a focus on increasing the pipeline of women and diverse investment professionals.

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Priority 2:
Leading on Climate Change

The urgency and ever-increasing impacts of the climate crisis threaten many of the University's other long-term goals. At all levels of the University, we will build upon ongoing climate science, decarbonization strategies, policy recommendations, health impacts, adaptation and communications research.

Our goal is to be at the forefront of understanding the climate crisis and implementing practical solutions that help build a more equitable, resilient and healthy world. UC Investments has been a key player in this priority, eliminating fossil fuel investments from our pension, endowment, working capital and retirement saving programs while investing in green technologies to fuel the future.

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Priority 3:
Strengthening an Inclusive, Respectful and Safe Community

Members of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups continue to be more likely to experience exclusionary behavior. Addressing the dynamics of our institution’s climate around bias, discrimination, and exclusion is critical for faculty recruitment and retention, student completion, diversity of senior leadership, patient care, and the University’s reputation. Our goal is for all University of California locations to be environments where those who study, teach, conduct research, work, and receive patient care feel included, safe and valued. UC Investments is focused on ensuring that the management firms they work with reflect our commitment to diversity. Approximately one-third of our actively managed investments are with diverse managers, and they recently met with more than 300 firms led by women and people of color to create more opportunities to raise that figure.

“UC Investments has been a key player in our priority to lead on climate change.”

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Priority 4:
Promoting Health in California’s Vulnerable Communities

As California and UC transition to the next phase of the post-pandemic world, there is a need to “catch up” on the health status of Californians and ensure health equity advances. We therefore seek to improve the health of Californians, including the most vulnerable communities, in three key areas: cancer screening, chronic illness management (hypertension and diabetes control), and long COVID.

Our additional goal is to improve the health of Californians now and in the future by promoting health equity across the state and expanding access to UC care. Recently, UC Investments joined with UCI Health to launch a $50 million fund to invest in healthcare innovation and digital health aimed at revolutionizing patient care and public health. This is the first such partnership between UC Investments and our UC healthcare enterprise.

These priorities are intended to help the University focus time, resources, and effort, providing the direction needed to effectively organize across a large and complex organization. By bringing special attention to these priorities and working with valuable partners like Jagdeep Singh Bachher and the UC Investments team, we will build on our tradition of excellence and advance our ability to have a meaningful impact on the world.