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A little history about UC Merced:
Juan Sánchez Muñoz, Ph.D., took office as the fourth permanent chancellor of UC Merced on July 1, 2020 — the first graduate of the University of California to lead the campus.
UC Merced originated in a 1988 decision by the UC Board of Regents to begin planning for a new university in the San Joaquin Valley to meet long-term enrollment demand. After a process that reviewed locations throughout the valley, the Merced site was chosen in 1995.
In 1998, Carol Tomlinson-Keasey was named senior associate to the president of the University of California, to lead planning and development of UC Merced; the Regents approved her as the campus’ first chancellor a year later.
Faculty members began to arrive in 2003 with graduate students in tow and began setting up research laboratories and programs at UC Merced’s ancillary research facility on the former Castle Air Force Base, biding their time until buildings were ready on campus. The first graduate courses began in fall 2004.
The campus celebrated the arrival of its first undergraduate students in September 2005. That fall semester saw most activities on campus take place in the Valley Terrace housing complex and the Leo & Dottie Kolligian Library. The first Classroom and Office Building and the Science and Engineering Building opened in January 2006.
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