Revelle: UC San Diego Commencement 2025

Revelle College was founded by and named for the late Roger Revelle (1901–1991). Dr. Revelle was the Director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the early 1950s, and he played a key role in the establishment of the University of California, San Diego in the late 1950s. He was instrumental in securing the land, in gaining the approval of the Regents of the University of California, and in recruiting the founding faculty of the university.

Dr. Revelle’s educational vision emphasized a college system chosen “to build a foundation which would become one of the great universities of the world.” The broad general-education requirements of Revelle College, hailed by Clark Kerr as “unmatched in the UC system and equaled by few prestigious private schools in the country,” were established by the faculty he selected. By 1964, when the first undergraduate students at UC San Diego enrolled in Revelle College, Dr. Revelle had moved to Harvard University, where he headed the Center for Population Control.

Upon returning to UC San Diego in 1975, Dr. Revelle stressed the importance of language in general education. Interdisciplinary humanities ensured a mastery of English; a foreign language requirement allowed one to study another culture, often through a minor or education abroad opportunities; and, most uncommon, a calculus requirement provided the language of science. The philosophy of requiring humanities, social science, fine arts, and language for all students was not unusual at that time (although it disappeared on most campuses during the late 1960s and early 1970s), but the requirement of calculus and true science courses was distinctive then and remains so today. Dr. Revelle felt strongly that an undergraduate education should stress breadth as well as depth. His own career as a successful scientist and public statesperson reflected the wisdom of such an education and set a model for the college named in his honor and the graduates thereof—Revelle College.

Now that you have successfully fulfilled the requirements of UC San Diego, including those required by Revelle College as well as your major and minor programs, you join thousands of Revelle-ians before you—proud may you walk across the Plaza, past the Fountain, and beyond Stonehenge! I wish you the best of all things in your future.

Your experiences at Revelle College will always be an integral part of your journey, and no matter what the future brings, you have the necessary resilience and wisdom to succeed.

Thank you for your participation and contribution to the Revelle College community during your stay at UC San Diego. Please visit us from time to time, stay connected with the college community, and lend support to your fellow Revelle-ians.

Congratulations, Class of 2025!

Warm regards,

Paul K. Yu
Provost, Revelle College

REVELLE COLLEGE CLASS OF 2025

Revelle College and Roger Revelle

Graduates of the Class of 2025

Revelle College Commencement Exercises