University of California at Riverside

University of California, Riverside

Motto	Fiat lux (Latin)
Motto in English	Let there be light
Type	Land-grant Public research university
Established	1954
Parent institution	University of California
Academic affiliation	APLU
Endowment	$129.2 million (2016)
Chancellor	Kim A. Wilcox
Provost	Cynthia Larive
Academic staff	1,638
Administrative staff	1,938
Students	23,278 (2017)
Undergraduates	20,069 (2017)
Postgraduates	3,209 (2017)
Location	Riverside & Palm Desert, California, U.S.
Campus	Suburban (Riverside) Rural (Palm Desert) 1,931 acres (781 ha) in total
Academic term	Quarter
Colors	Sky blue and Gold
Nickname	Highlanders
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I – Big West
Mascot	Scotty Highlander
Website	www.ucr.edu

The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside), is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on 1,900 acres (769 ha) in a suburban district of Riverside, California, United States, with a branch campus of 20 acres (8 ha) in Palm Desert. In 1907 the predecessor to UCR was founded as the UC Citrus Experiment Station, Riverside which pioneered research in biological pest control and the use of growth regulators responsible for extending the citrus growing season in California from four to nine months. Some of the world's most important research collections on citrus diversity and entomology, as well as science fiction and photography, are located at Riverside.

UCR's undergraduate College of Letters and Science opened in 1954. The Regents of the University of California declared UCR a general campus of the system in 1959, and graduate students were admitted in 1961. To accommodate an enrollment of 21,000 students by 2015, more than $730 million has been invested in new construction projects since 1999. Preliminary accreditation of the UC Riverside School of Medicine granted in October 2012 and the first class of 50 students was enrolled in August 2013. It is the first new research-based public medical school in 40 years.