It wasn’t long ago that the college welcomed over 2,000 new first-year and transfer students. They joined me on the BioSci lawn to meet one another, their faculty and receive a warm welcome to the college and to UC Davis. Each year, the incoming first-year and transfer classes bring energy, enthusiasm and excitement to the college.

September also saw the culmination of this year’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program, whose scholars gathered to share their findings with peers, mentors and faculty. That program is supported entirely by generous donations to the college, which have helped create many of our student research awards.

I am also very proud to share the news that the Expect Greater fundraising campaign—the largest in our campus’s history—ended with a record-setting number of dollars raised. It is truly a testament to the impact of UC Davis, and the connection we have to our students, friends and alumni. To all those who supported the college, I send you a heartfelt thank you.

Our summer saw two monumental faculty accomplishments, too. Siobhan Brady, a professor of plant biology, was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator—a highly prestigious honor that will see her lab receive almost $9 million in funding to support her work making plants more resilient to climate change. Venkatesan Sundaresan, a distinguished professor of plant biology, was among this year’s recipients of the Wolf Prize, which is considered by many to be the Nobel Prize of agriculture. My sincerest congratulations to both of them.

Finally, you may have seen the news that UC Davis received more than $1 billion in research grant funding. This marks the third consecutive year our campus has seen support for interdisciplinary and groundbreaking research total over a billion dollars. Another testament to the impact and excellence of our campus.

And now it’s October, and the quarter is in full swing. Students are back, the busses are running, and the bikes are out in force.

It’s a great time to be an Aggie.