UCSF is poised at “a key inflection point” in its history and must be prepared to swing in new directions, Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS, said in his inaugural State of the University speech.
Hawgood addressed a packed auditorium in Cole Hall on Tuesday. The audience included nearly 80 past chancellors award winners whom Hawgood recognized to much applause.
Hawgood lauded UCSF for its unwavering support of basic science, its dedication to cultivating the best education and patient care, and its many successes at merging biology and technology in ways that are revolutionizing health.
“To thrive, we will need to be receptive to change and willing to swing in new directions while remaining true to our essential values – no small challenge to get right,” he said.
Hawgood noted that as the University celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, it is “at a hinge of history.” To continue to excel, he said, the University must adapt to changing funding situations and a new era of health and education with advances of technology.
As a 32-year member of the UCSF family, Hawgood said he’s honored to lead UCSF into this next phase in history – marked by new ways of teaching in a digital world, closer ties with the community that surrounds UCSF, and unprecedented levels of teamwork in health care delivery.
“Today, UCSF is a $4.9 billion enterprise. Despite significant stresses for all our community during a recessionary period, this represents more than 50 percent growth in our operating budget over the last seven years,” Hawgood said.
UCSF’s endowment also reached an all-time high in 2014 but it still falls far short of peer private institutions. Hawgood said he will make growing this endowment a high priority.
Earlier this year, the National Institutes of Health funding report showed that UCSF was the top public recipient of competitive grants in 2013, with all four professional schools leading the nation in their respective fields. Hawgood noted this underscores the extraordinary faculty and is also a testament to the vision of previous chancellors, "who saw the opportunity, measured the risk, and built the world-class facilities that enabled this growth.”.