Dear Friends,
UCSF’s vision is to build upon its commitment to diversity by educating, training and employing a diverse faculty, staff and student body.
As chancellor, I am committed to furthering this vision to ensure that UCSF continues to excel at the highest levels. Diversity is a defining feature of California. It is also a critical element of our campus life, as the interaction among people of different backgrounds is essential to achieving excellence in teaching, research, patient care and public service and to fulfilling our mission of advancing health worldwide™.
UCSF defines diversity as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, nurturing and celebrating differences among people – whether it’s age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, language, education, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, or socioeconomic status.
UCSF has made important strides in diversifying the campus community. Our successes bear out the belief that a diversity of perspectives and practices drives ingenuity, creativity and productivity in a world of increasing globalization. Under my leadership, UCSF will build upon its successes and strive to do even better.
For some, my appointment as the first woman to serve as chancellor of UCSF represents a milestone in the long history of this great health sciences university. If my appointment enables even one person to feel more hopeful about her or his future and career, then I am honored to serve as a role model.
Every one of us at UCSF has an opportunity to inspire and, in so doing, strengthen the University’s presence in the lives of those we touch.
Sincerely,
Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH
Chancellor
UCSF today is launching a website devoted to celebrating our differences and covering the actions underway and the challenges that lie ahead in building upon UCSF’s commitment to diversity. Read more…
Voices is a series of videos profiling diverse members of the campus community to emphasize the importance of diversity to UCSF's identity. Read more…
The UCSF Academic Diversity Program is directed by J. Renee Navarro, PharmD, MD, who leads UCSF’s efforts to implement initiatives to nurture and enhance diversity among faculty and trainees, including students, residents and postdoctoral scholars. Read more…
UCSF unveiled a diversity initiative in January 2007 that pinpoints 10 key outcomes, including the implementation of a comprehensive communications plan and creation of this website. Read more…
UCSF finalized its first-ever campuswide strategic plan, a vision for the future with specific recommendations to guide its global leadership in health sciences, in June 2007. Among the seven strategic directions is to promote and nurture diversity among faculty, staff and trainees. Read more…
UCSF adopted principles of community, which states in part, that “we recognize, value and affirm that social diversity contributes richness to the University community and enhances the quality of campus life for individuals and groups. We take pride in our various achievements and we celebrate our differences.” Read more…
This website is the product of a diverse team of writers, designers, web developers, multimedia experts and editors from UCSF Public Affairs and elsewhere. Read more…