UC Merced Magazine | Commemorative Chronicle

e campus would set standards for the sustainable use of energy and other scarce resources and be a model of development in the San Joaquin Valley.

carol tomlinson-keasey FOUNDING CHANCELLOR

In July 2001, UC Merced’s Founding Chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey wrote a letter outlining her vision for California’s newest university with sustainability as a foundational principle.

he imagined a campus that would “set standards for the sustainable use of energy and other scarce resources and be a model of development in the San Joaquin Valley.” Two decades later, that vision has not only taken root, it has also ourished. With that letter as a guide, UC Merced has emerged as a national leader in environmental stewardship, social equity, and economic responsibility. From its inception, the university was designed to integrate sustainability into every facet of its mission; academic, operational, and community-facing.