UC Regents approve new public health school; $50 million gift

July 18, 2024

Flower petals provide a colorful collage on Ring Road. (Photo: Steve Zylius/UC Irvine)

UC IRVINE NEWS

New population and public health school approved by UC Regents

Founding Dean Bernadette Boden-Albala with students

After receiving approval today by the UC Board of Regents, UC Irvine will transition its highly rated Program in Public Health to a school of population and public health. This is the first school of public health in Orange County and the fourth within the 10-campus UC system. The school will be named the Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health. “I am delighted that the regents have completed the final piece of that promise,” said Chancellor Howard Gillman. “As the Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health educates, conducts research and partners with regional and national communities and organizations, it will address the wide range of public health problems faced by the world today.”

$50 million family donation provides funding

UC Irvine’s new Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health is made possible by a $50 million gift from Wen and his family. This is the largest gift to the school by a donor under age 50 and the first naming gift of a UC school after a Taiwanese American. $42.5 million will support the new school, which will be led by Founding Dean Bernadette Boden-Albala (second from right, above), professor of health, society and behavior. The other $7.5 million of the Wen family’s gift will support cardiology research, education and clinical operations within the School of Medicine and the UCI Health system.

Sustainability achievements and tips from UC Irvine

Anteater Express expands electric fleet

Nearly 1.5 million riders take an Anteater Express bus each year

UC Irvine added five electric buses to its fleet in May, bringing the total to 25 vehicles purchased since January 2018. The expansion highlights the school’s status as the first university in the nation to go all electric. Anteater Express buses service over 30,000 people at a cost of only 37 cents per mile compared with the $1.53 per mile cost of using diesel. Said Ron Fleming, executive director of transportation and distribution services: “UC Irvine continues to lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by committing to ensuring that at least 50 percent of overall fleet acquisitions are zero or low emission vehicles.”

UC NEWS

UC appoints new student Regent

On July 17, the University of California Board of Regents appointed UCLA graduate student Sonya Brooks as the 2025-26 student Regent. Brooks will serve as the student Regent-designate for the coming year, and she will have voting privileges when her one-year term as a Regent begins in July 2025. She is simultaneously pursuing two graduate degrees at UCLA – a master of public health in the Fielding School of Public Health and a doctorate in education in the School of Education and Information Studies. She previously earned a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a master’s degree in urban education policy from Brown University.

SAVE THE DATE

National Theatre Live Screening: Dear England
Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. (sponsored by Irvine Barclay Theatre)

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Blueprints for success

In this fun video, “Why Women Love Engineering,” several UC Irvine undergraduate engineering students share their passion for the field and what they are currently building for HyperXite, Anteater Baja Racing, LUCID Home and Chem-E-Car. UC Irvine's chapter of the Society of Women Engineers boasts more than 400 collegiate and professional chapters nationwide and meets weekly to support women in their engineering aspirations.

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