Welcome back, Anteaters! And to all of our new social sciences friends and families, welcome home. We’re thrilled to ring in the fall quarter of another great year at the UC Irvine School of Social Sciences!

From faculty to graduate, undergraduate, and staff welcome celebrations, it’s been so inspiring to come together and share in the excitement and energy that marks the start of a new academic year. I’m heartened knowing that even as we face uncertainty in our current political and budgetary climate, the School of Social Sciences continues to thrive. And that’s not by chance; that’s a direct result of the efforts of the outstanding people who comprise our collective, where passion and purpose drive all that we do.

Joining our vibrant community this year are 1,455 undergraduate first-years and transfers - 40% of whom identify as the first in their family to go to college - and 75 Ph.D. and master’s students who’ve come from universities around the globe to study alongside our worldclass faculty. Together, they bring our total student count to 5,807 across our school’s 12 undergraduate majors and 12 graduate programs. We are also incredibly fortunate to welcome in two new faculty members whose expertise in languages, computational modeling, race, ethnicity, politics and gender further amplify the school's important mission.

As social scientists, we know that solutions to some of society’s greatest challenges lie in our ability to break the mold, to push the limits in teaching, research and service - to be boundaryless in pursuit of positive change. And true to our school motto, we continue to chart a bold course through the programs we pursue and the communities we engage and elevate. To highlight but a few examples:

• Over summer, our student-focused outreach programs worked hard to expand access to graduate study, expose more undergraduates to academic research, preserve and share history, and train the next generation of population science researchers.
• This past year, our faculty secured more than $7.6 million in external funding to pursue work on topics aimed at detecting dementia earlier, illuminating Indigenous communal practices of belonging, understanding the underlying importance of networks in helping formerly incarcerated individuals navigate community reentry, and more.
• Research findings were featured in top-tier publications and more than a dozen books spanning topics from baseball to Barbie to the human brain - and everything in between. This included important works on war, moral choice, immigration, academic freedom, diversity in healthcare, social movements, and more.
• Faculty continued to serve this past year as expert voices in media on critical, trending topics, appearing in more than 400 news stories that ran in 200+ outlets worldwide, including The New York Times, LA Times, US News & World Report, The Washington Post, NPR, USA Today, Associated Press, Newsweek, Sky News, OC Register, and more.
• Our alumni played a leading role in surpassing UCI’s Brilliant Future campaign engagement goal — connecting with 31% of our alumni, a powerful testament to the strength of our community. Philanthropic support has grown significantly, fueling scholarships, research and student success, with our leadership societies and initiatives like LeadHER showing how individuals — each giving in their own way — can come together to create extraordinary impact.

And that’s just a start. You can always explore more online about our research discoveries, funded projects, award-winning programs, faculty features, student and staff highlights, alumni and donor excellence, community shoutouts, and many other engaging activities happening across the school. If you see something that ignites ideas and interests in further collaboration, reach out – we’ll help make it happen.

Speaking of connecting: Attending one of our many talks, conferences or seminars is a great way to learn about exciting new work and meet equally engaged Anteaters, and fall quarter is always a busy one for events. Mark your calendars now for Oct. 16 to join us for the Center for Global Peace & Conflict Studies Margolis Lecture featuring Richard N. Haass, former ambassador and former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Oct. 21 for a special hybrid event celebrating the launch of the 2025 Vera Rubin Quarter, the 18th coin in the American Women Quarters™ Program - more details to follow. And do keep an eye on our event calendar – in fact, subscribe here - to stay up to date with our many offerings for alumni, community friends, students and researchers. If you prefer information delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our monthly enews and key updates to keep current and engaged with all things social sciences.

We live in challenging times, and there's plenty of adversity to go around, but we are here to help as we all navigate this new year. I look forward to the many opportunities we’ll have to come together as we continue boldly pushing the boundaries of teaching, research and service.

Zot, zot, zot!

Bill Maurer, Dean

-photo by Steve Zylius/UC Irvine