As we near the end of the year, I’ve been thinking about a word that defined 2025 for me.

New.

New job. New home. New campus. New office.

My favorite “new” was new people. For the last five months, much of my work has been focused on getting to know you, UC Riverside, and the broader communities, to listen, learn, and define how I can best contribute.

I’ve shared our vision and priorities with local, state, and national elected officials; donors; the UCR Foundation Board of Trustees; the Faculty Senate and selected groups of faculty; the Staff Assembly; community organizations; alumni; students; and retirees and emeriti. This week, I recorded a video for new employees to ensure everyone at UCR understands how they contribute to our mission and support our priorities. These meetings enhanced my understanding of the proud history of UCR and my appreciation of the uniqueness and the tremendous potential of the University.

“New” might be the word that defines 2026 for me as well. We have launched four searches and plan to welcome new leaders to UCR. New Chancellor and Provost lecture series are in development, providing an opportunity to expand our public service mission. I’ll do a deep dive into the budget with campus leaders while representing our needs in discussions with system and state leaders for a new academic year. After that, I’ll participate in student recruiting and yield events before arriving at commencement, where I'll have the opportunity to congratulate our new graduates.

UC Riverside continues to demonstrate what it means to thrive at the intersection of excellence and access with a series of achievements.

Rankings from the Wall Street Journal and Washington Monthly placed UCR in the top 25 among public universities. This fall, we set a new enrollment record of 27,633 students. Some of those students moved into a new dorm to live and study side by side with students from the RCCD community colleges.

Gubernatorial candidates visited the campus to engage in a health care forum. Two faculty members were elected to the National Academy of Sciences, while a student was named a Marshall Scholar, a UCR first.

Researchers made discoveries to treat people living with multiple sclerosis, to conserve water on land and in our bodies, to reduce pollution from AI processing, and to explore the universe more deeply, among many other significant findings.

Whether you support special events or daily operations, prepare classrooms or teach in them, discover in a wet lab or through computation—your work this year made UCR’s achievements possible.

Thank you for welcoming me into this community and helping me learn what powers this amazing place. Thank you for the ways you support our mission and one another. As we end one year and look toward the next, I am optimistic about what lies ahead.

Happy holidays and happy new year.

Sincerely,

S. Jack Hu, Ph.D.

Chancellor

P.S. Be sure to check out the Bold & Brilliant Moments of 2025 video on our YouTube channel.