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History of Cal State L.A.

Events In:

1770

  • Franciscan missionaries settle on the green hillside that is now the home of Cal State L.A.

1850s

  • Basque rancher Juan Bautista Batz acquires the area through a Spanish land grant and names it Rancho Rosa Castilla for the wild rose growing near the ranch house.

1947

  • Los Angeles State College is founded by an Act of the California legislature and opens for classes on the campus of L.A. City College; P. Victor Peterson, president of LACC, becomes acting president of the new college.
  • Jack Bradley becomes first student government president.

June 1948

  • First student newspaper, The College Times, published.

June 17, 1948

  • First graduating class.

Sept. 1949

  • L.A. State College becomes Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts & Sciences, with 2,187 students; Howard S. McDonald is named second president and becomes first full-time president.

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June 1952

  • First master’s degrees awarded.

May 1955

  • Groundbreaking for new campus.

1957

  • First L.A. State time capsule sealed in corner of Administration building (now Student Affairs).

Fall 1958

  • Ten buildings completed at new site.
  • First classes offered at new campus.

Fall 1959

  • First freshmen enter.
  • First L.A. State telecourse—20th Century American Novel—offered over KCOP Channel 13.

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1961-2

  • Distinguished Visiting Professor of English: Christopher Isherwood, noted author (his Berlin Stories was the basis for the Broadway musical and film, Cabaret).

June 1962

  • Albert Graves becomes third president.

Sept. 1962

  • North Hall opens.

1962-63

  • Distinguished Visiting Professor of English: Dorothy Parker, writer, member of the Algonquin Round Table.

June 1963

  • First Commencement at new site.

Sept. 1963

  • Franklyn A. Johnson becomes fourth president.

Jan. 1964

  • L.A. State College is officially renamed California State College at Los Angeles (CSCLA) and becomes part of the California State College (CSC) system formed in 1960.

1964

  • Solomon Diamond, professor of psychology, selected as one of the first two systemwide awardees to be named 1963-64 Outstanding Professor by the California State College Board of Trustees.

1965

  • Football team ranked No. 1 nationally.
  • The College Times named best newspaper by California Intercollegiate Press.

1966

  • Hudson Roysher, professor of art, named 1965-66 Trustees Outstanding Professor.

May 1966

  • John A. Greenlee becomes fifth president.

June 1967

  • California State College at Los Angeles converts to quarter system.

1968

  • Alumna Billie Jean King (att. '61-'64) wins third consecutive Wimbledon championship to become the world’s top-ranked women’s amateur in tennis. In 1967 she had been the first woman player since 1939 to win the triple crown of singles, doubles and mixed doubles in the British and American championships. King went on to win the Wimbledon title 20 times and the U.S. crown 5 times. Her outspoken support for better treatment of women players was instrumental in increasing the popularity of women’s tennis.

Sept. 1968

  • First child care center in the California State College system opens on the Cal State L.A. campus.
  • Nation’s first Chicano Studies department established at Cal State L.A.

Nov. 24, 1968

  • North Hall renamed King Hall in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Nov. 1969

  • John F. Kennedy Library completed and dedicated.

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1970

  • Alumni Association donates the Alumni Carillon to campus.
  • Joseph Casanova, Jr., professor of chemistry, named 1969-70 Trustees Outstanding Professor.

Fall 1970

  • South Tower and South Hall are completed and opened.

1971

  • Gilbert Geis, professor of sociology, named 1970-71 CSC Trustees' Outstanding Professor.

1972

  • The California State College system becomes The California State University and Colleges (CSUC). California State College at Los Angeles receives University status and henceforth is known officially as California State University, Los Angeles or — informally — Cal State L.A.

Oct. 2, 1972

  • The College Times changes name to University Times, in accordance with the change in university status.

1973

  • The John A. Greenlee Fountain and Grove (later renamed Greenlee Plaza) was donated by the Alumni Association.
  • Author Joseph Wambaugh is presented with the University’s first Outstanding Alumnus award.

Feb. 10, 1973

  • The baseball field was officially renamed as Reeder Field in honor of baseball coach Jim Reeder who never had a losing season prior to his untimely death in January 1972.

1975

  • Business Forum, the CSUC’s only national quarterly business journal, established by the School of Business and Economics.

May 1975

  • Cal State L.A.’s current University-Student Union opens.

July 1976

  • The CSUC Board of Trustees approves the renaming of South Tower to Simpson Tower, in memory of Floyd R. Simpson, first dean, School of Business and Economics.
  • South Hall renamed Salazar Hall in memory of slain Los Angeles Times journalist Ruben Salazar.

1977

  • Jane Sanford Lewis, home economics professor, named 1976-77 CSUC Trustees' Outstanding Professor.
  • Cal State L.A. announces it has dropped intercollegiate football (Dec. 6).

1978

  • Harold Goldwhite, professor of chemistry, named 1977-78 CSUC Trustees' Outstanding Professor.
  • Cal State L.A. track team wins NCAA Championship, Division II.
  • Emeriti Association founded at Cal State L.A. (Feb. 9).

Sept. 12, 1979

  • James M. Rosser becomes the University’s sixth president. He was appointed May 15, 1979, began serving September 12, 1979, and was inaugurated May 20, 1980.

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1981

  • Lloyd N. Ferguson, professor of chemistry, named 1980-81 CSUC Trustees' Outstanding Professor.

Jan. 1981

  • Mascot changes from Diablo to Golden Eagle; team names change accordingly.

1982

  • The CSUC system is officially renamed The California State University (CSU); each of the (then) nineteen CSU campuses now carries the title of "University."

1983

  • Robert D. Kully, professor of speech communication, is appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian as the first faculty member of the CSU Board of Trustees.

June 1984

  • Residential Life Complex Phase I, first on-campus housing, opens.

July 1984

  • Cal State L.A. is the site of XXXIII (33rd) Olympiad judo events.
  • Olympic mural, "Olympic Fantasy," a mosaic tile work by muralist Guillermo "Bill" Granizo (installed on west side of P.E. building), unveiled.

Sept. 1984

  • Anna Bing Arnold Child Care Center new facility opens.

Oct. 1985

  • The L.A. County High School for the Arts opens on Cal State L.A. campus.

1986

  • Physical Sciences 453 was dedicated as the Lester Hirsch Exploratorium after Cal State L.A. physics professor Lester Hirsch retired.

June 1986

  • Cal State L.A. kicks off "Festival 40," commemorating the University’s 40th Anniversary.

1987

  • Hendrik Keyzer, professor of chemistry, named 1989-90 CSU Trustees' Outstanding Professor.

June 1987

  • Statue of Confucius, a gift of the Republic of China on Taiwan, dedicated.

Sept. 1987

  • Residential Life Complex Phase II opens.

Oct. 1, 1987

  • Earthquake damages campus structures; one student fatality.

Nov. 1987

  • Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs affiliates with, and moves to, Cal State L.A. campus.

1988

  • Biological Sciences conference room renamed to commemorate earthquake victim, student Lupe Elias-Exposito.

1989

  • Dance Kaleidoscope, the annual dance festival, is reestablished at Cal State L.A. to become L.A.’s leading dance showcase.

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1990

  • Olga Termini, music professor, named 1989-90 CSU Trustees Outstanding Professor.

June 1990

  • Cal State L.A.’s Solar Eagle, the first solar-powered electric car designed and built by Engineering and Technology students, places fourth in the nation and is first among California competitors in the transcontinental GM Sunrayce USA.
  • CSU/CSLA honorary doctorate awarded to alumnus Jaime Escalante '73, '77, '82 at 43rd Commencement.

1991

  • Phoebe Dea, professor of chemistry, named 1990-91 CSU Trustees' Outstanding Professor.

1992

  • Phoebe Dea, professor of chemistry, named California Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.

Mar. 1992

  • Salazar Hall reopens after seismic repair.
  • Rosemarie Marshall, professor of microbiology, named 1992-93 CSU Trustees' Outstanding Professor.

1993

  • CSU Chancellor and Trustees approve development of Cal State L.A.’s Charter School of Education, creating the first such school of higher education in the nation.

June 1993

  • The Cal State L.A. Solar Eagle II places third nationally in Sunrayce 93.

Sept. 1993

  • Dedication of newly designed Edward R. Roybal Institute for Applied Gerontology in Salazar Hall site. (The Roybal Institute was chartered in 1988.)
  • Dedication of the south wing of Cal State L.A.’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, named the John A. Palmer wing in honor of John Palmer, former vice president for Academic Affairs. Palmer also served as chair of the English Department and dean of the School of Letters and Sciences.

1994

  • Thomas Onak, chemistry professor, named 1993-94 CSU Trustees' Outstanding Professor.

Oct. 1994

  • Cal State L.A.’s Metrolink Station, first and only commuter rail station on a college campus, opens.

Nov. 1994

  • Official opening of Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex — a 1,100-seat theater, fine arts gallery and Street of the Arts — forming the new dynamic northern gateway to the campus.

Mar. 1995

  • Alumnus Samuel T. Durrance '72, '74, astrogeophysicist and two-time payload specialist on NASA spacecraft missions, participates in the longest space shuttle flight to date aboard Endeavour, carrying with him the Cal State L.A. President’s Medallion.

Apr. 1995

  • The second-floor open space of the University-Student Union (U-SU) was dedicated as the Lester Hirsch Program Area at a campuswide party celebrating the 80th birthday of retired CSULA physics professor and former U-SU board member, Lester Hirsch.

June 1995

  • CSU/CSLA honorary doctorate awarded to actor and alumnus Billy Barty (att. '49 & '75) and, posthumously, to CSU Trustee Claudia Hampton at Cal State L.A.’s 48th Commencement.

Fall 1995

  • Thomas Onak, chemistry professor, named California Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.
  • William A. Cohen, professor of marketing, named the University’s 1994-95 CSU Outstanding Professor.

Spring 1996

  • Cal State L.A.’s Mini Baja vehicle (car #6) finished first place overall and also captured first place in the endurance challenge at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International 1996 Mini Baja West competition.

July 1996

  • Alumnus George Cotliar '61 promoted to the position of senior vice president of the Los Angeles Times.
  • CSU Board of Trustees designates 1996 as the "Year of the Alumni" and selects Cal State L.A. alumnus Larry Adamson '74 as the first "Alumnus of the Year."

Sept. 1996

  • Chemistry professor Carlos G. Gutiérrez is among the first honorees named by President Clinton to receive the newly-established annual Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, at a White House ceremony.

May 1997

  • Chemistry professor Donald Paulson receives the University’s President’s Distinguished Professor Award.

June 14, 1997

  • 50th graduating class.
  • CSU/CSLA honorary doctorates awarded to tennis great Billie Jean King (alumna) and pianist/vocalist Michael Feinstein.
  • Year-long celebration of 50th anniversary of the University’s founding begins.

June 28, 1997

  • Solar Eagle III takes 1st place in the national Sunrayce 97 solar car competition.

Sept. 1997

  • Stanley M. Burstein, professor of history, is named President’s Distinguished Professor.

Jan. 3, 1998

  • Cal State L.A. head baseball coach John Herbold is inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame during the ABCA’s national convention in San Diego, CA.

Apr. 1998

  • Philip C. Chinn, professor of education, is one of only ten individuals in the nation to be presented with the first Advocates for Justice Award by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education’s Committee on Multicultural Education.
  • Harold Goldwhite becomes the second faculty member from Cal State L.A. to serve as faculty trustee of the California State University, appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson.
  • Cal State L.A.’s Mini Baja vehicle (car #7) wins first place overall at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International 1998 Mini Baja West competition.

May 1998

  • Cal State L.A. unveils new Mattel Hot Wheels version of itsnational first-place solar car, Solar Eagle III, at its 50thanniversary celebration, "Festival 50."

June 13, 1998

  • The Honorable Edward R. Roybal, former Congressman of 25thdistrict, who has made significant contributions to theUniversity and the greater Los Angeles community, is presented aCSU/Cal State L.A. Honorary Doctor of Laws degree at Cal StateL.A.’s 51st Commencement exercises.

Sept. 1998

  • Timothy Steele, professor of English, is named President’sDistinguished Professor.
  • Time capsule is buried officially ending the University’s 50thanniversary celebration.

Oct. 1998

  • The Center for Environmental Analysis (CEA-CREST), first ofits kind funded by the National Science Foundation on the WestCoast, opens on campus.
  • Alumna Billie Jean King, 20-time Wimbledon champion and CalState L.A. ’s honorary doctorate recipient, hosts the inauguraltennis fundraiser for the University’s Division ofIntercollegiate Athletics.

April 17, 1999

  • Cal State L.A.’s Mini Baja vehicle (car #38) finished first place overall at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International 1999 Mini Baja West competition, winning first place awards in the endurance and acceleration challenges as well.

May 1999

  • Raymond B. Landis, dean of the School of the Engineering andTechnology, is the first California State Universityadministrator to receive the $20,000 systemwide CSU Wang FamilyExcellence Award for administrative leadership.

Sept. 1999

  • Cal State L.A. inaugurates its President’s Scholars program.Eight exceptional students from southern California high schoolsare the first beneficiaries of the University’s most prestigiousscholarship.
  • Ann Garry, professor of philosophy, is named President’sDistinguished Professor.

Dec. 1999

  • Raymond Landis, Dean of Engineering and Technology, is honoredby the White House for Outstanding Student Mentoring. Therecognition earns University its second Presidential Award.

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Jan. 2000

  • The Luckman Gallery at Cal State L.A.’s Harriet and CharlesLuckman Fine Arts Complex is named as one of 29 arts institutions in the United States and abroad to receive gifts of contemporary artwork from the well-known collection of Peter and Eileen Norton.

Mar. 2000

  • Chemistry Professor Harold Goldwhite is reappointed to theBoard of Trustees of the California State University (CSU) byGovernor Gray Davis. Goldwhite is the second Cal State L.A.faculty member from Cal State L.A. to be appointed as CSUTrustee. (See 1983, Robert D. Kully)
  • A mural-scale painting by renowned Mexican artist Reyna Castaño,titled Por Un Lenguaje Universal, is unveiled andinstalled in the Luckman Theatre.

May 2000

  • The Division of Continuing Education opens the PasadenaTraining Center as home to the Center on ChildWelfare—established in 1999 by the University’s School of Health and Human Services.
  • Carlos Gutiérrez, professor of chemistry, is one of four CSUfaculty selected for the $20,000 systemwide CSU Wang FamilyExcellence Award, under the category of Natural Sciences,Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering. This is thesecond year of the Wang award, and the second time a member ofthe Cal State L.A. community has received the award.
  • Cal State L.A. head coach Dave Yanai, one of the premiereducators in Division II collegiate basketball, receivesoutstanding coach recognition as the John R. Wooden Awardrecipient.

June 2000

  • BalletFest 2000, Southern California’s first summer balletfestival, is inaugurated on the Cal State L.A. campus.
  • A $31 million renovation of the Engineering and TechnologyBuilding creates a state-of-the-art learning facility withsophisticated labs and computer-linked classrooms.

July 2000

  • The University’s Model United Nations chapter places in the top 30, out of 190 teams in the New York City competition, bringing home its first national conference win since the chapter’s inception more than 30 years previous.

Sept. 2000

  • Cal State L.A.’s six Schools officially renamed as Colleges. Continuing Education changes name to Division of Extended Education.
  • California Governor Gray Davis chooses the Cal State L.A. campus to hold press conference at which he signs the historic bills expanding the Cal Grant program.

Oct. 2000

  • Demetrius Margaziotis, professor of physics, is named President’s Distinguished Professor.

Dec. 4, 2000

  • Alumnus Steve Cooley '70 elects to have his oath of office ceremony as Los Angeles County District Attorney in the Luckman Theatre on the campus of his alma mater.

June 2001

  • The College of Engineering and Technology adds the Department of Computer Science and officially becomes the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology.

July 2001

  • Jeanette C. Takamura, the immediate past U.S. Assistant Secretary of Aging, is appointed Edward R. Roybal Endowed Chair in Gerontology and Aging.

July 23, 2001

  • Groundbreaking for the new University Auxiliary Services building, a "one-stop shop" for the campus community. (This new UAS building replaces the former Eagles’ Landing cafeteria).

Aug. 2001

  • Cal State L.A. alumna Rosario Marin ’83 confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 3, 2001, and sworn in as the 41st Treasurer of the United States on August 16, 2001.

Sept. 2001

  • Carlos Gutiérrez, professor of chemistry, is named President’s Distinguished Professor.

Winter 2002

  • Cal State L.A. departments of Social Work and Nursing, located within the University’s College of Health and Human Services, are granted the status of School.

Feb. 2002

  • Coach John Herbold is honored by CSULA Intercollegiate Athletics for becoming baseball coach with the most wins in University history. Cal State L.A. has won 398 baseball games since he became head coach in 1984. The previous record of 397 wins was held by Jim Reeder, for whom the baseball field is named.

June 2002

  • 41st U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin ’83 was awarded a CSU/Cal State L.A. Honorary Doctor of Laws at Cal State L.A.’s 55th Commencement exercises.

Sept. 2002

  • Martin Roden, professor of electrical engineering, is named President’s Distinguished Professor.

Fall 2002

  • The Department of Music introduces a Master of Music degree option in Afro-Latin Music.
  • The University’s first Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese is approved and impliented by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.
  • NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) awards Cal State L.A.’s College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology a $6 million, five-year grant to establish a major center for the study of aerospace technology and space science enterprises. This NASA University Research Center is the first and only one of its kind established on a CSU campus.

Jan. 2003

  • California State University, Los Angeles was one of 19 CSU campuses listed on The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education’s seventh annual Publisher’s Picks, a national list of colleges and universities that the publication regards as offering strong educational opportunities for Hispanic students.

Mar. 2003

  • Groundbreaking of Intimate Theatre at the Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex.

June 3, 2003

  • Golden Eagle—a building located at the very heart of campus, housing the campus’ new international food court, University Club restaurant, meeting, banquet and event spaces, a showcase bookstore unique to the community, and various University offices—celebrated its grand opening.

July 2003

  • A leader in educating teachers, Cal State L.A. is ranked as California’s top public university in the number of students awarded a teacher credential, according to a California Commission on Teacher Credentialing report.

Fall 2003

  • Yehudi Webster, associate professor of sociology, was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture at Lodz University, Poland, during the 2003-2004 academic year.

Sept. 2003

  • Judith Hamera, professor of communication studies/theatre arts and dance, is named President’s Distinguished Professor.

Oct. 30, 2003

  • The College of Arts and Letters and the College of Natural and Social Sciences inaugurated the University’s new Integrated Humanities Center. A prestigious $325,000 Rockefeller Humanities grant supports two visiting and two Cal State L.A. humanities scholars at the Center.
  • Visiting distinguished professor Victor Valle inaugurated the Joseph A. Bailey II, M.D. Endowed Chair for the University’s new American Communities Program. Major funding for the American Communities program resulted from a National Endowment for the Humanities challenge grant that raised nearly $1 million to build the College of Arts and Letters’ first major endowment.

Spring 2004

  • Cal State L.A.’s technology student team garnered first place in the University Category at the highly regarded WESTEC 2004 Manufacturing Challenge, a creative annual manufacturing competition where college students engineer and manufacture products for judging by manufacturing professionals.

Apr. 17-18, 2004

  • The first-ever Luckman U.S. Latino Film/Video Festival — Reel Rasquache showcased over 20 recent independent U.S. Latino-produced films and videos at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex.

Apr. 22-24, 2004

  • Placing seventh overall, Cal State L.A.’s Mini Baja vehicle (car #23) is California’s first-place winner at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International 2004 Mini Baja West competition.

May 18, 2004

  • Cal State L.A.’s education professor Martin G. Brodwin and history professor Stanley M. Burstein were selected as two of only four CSU faculty members honored with the $20,000 systemwide CSU Wang Family Excellence Award. Brodwin’s award is in the category of Education and Professional and Applied Sciences, whereas Burstein’s award is in the category of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Public Service.

June 2004

  • Carrying on the Cal State L.A. tradition of national #1 award-winning student-built environmentally-responsible vehicles, the Super Eagle—CSULA’s newest competitive supermileage car—beat 39 entries from the U.S. and Canada in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) international Supermileage® competition in Michigan.
  • Harry P. Pachon, one of the country’s top Hispanic political thought leaders, was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters at Cal State L.A.’s 57th Commencement exercises.

Fall 2004

  • The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute was established through a grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation in collaboration with the Edward R. Roybal Institute of Applied Gerontology at Cal State L.A.

>Sept. 2004

  • J. Theodore Anagnoson, professor of political science, is named President’s Distinguished Professor.

Oct. 2004

  • For the first time, Cal State L.A. was the academic host for the Annual HENAAC (Hispanic Engineering National Achievement Awards Corporation) Conference.

Nov. 2004

  • The Intimate Theatre, the final component of the Luckman Fine Arts Complex, opened its first season with Culture Clash in AmeriCCA.
  • The critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra is established as an official unit of the University.

Winter 2005

  • Jewish Studies Program (JSP) inaugurated. A component program of the National Endowment for the Humanities-sponsored American Communities Program at Cal State L.A., the JSP promotes an understanding of the nature and continuing evolution of American Identity.

Jan. 14, 2005

  • Groundbreaking for the future Los Angeles Regional Crime Laboratory (formally named as the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center in 2006) serving the entire Los Angeles community. The new Crime Lab will jointly house LAPD’s Scientific Investigation Division, the Sheriff’s Department Scientific Services Bureau, Cal State L.A.’s School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics, and the California Forensic Science Institute at Cal State L.A.

April 2005

  • Newly-designed Transit Center, at the south end of campus on Circle Drive, reopened with a celebration.
  • British Afro-Caribbean poet and novelist Anthony Joseph is the first British Council-USA writer-in-residence at Cal State L.A.

Summer 2005

  • Parking Structure 3 is completed with a pedestrian bridge from the top level to Greenlee Plaza.
  • The Confucius Statue moved to a new campus location. Its home is now on the grassy area, south of the State Playhouse.

July 25, 2005

  • Construction work begin on Wing A of the Integrated Sciences Complex.

Fall 2005

  • Timothy C. Lim, associate professor of political science, was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholar grant to teach at Korea University in Seoul, Korea, during the 2005-2006 academic year.

Sept. 2005

  • Martin Brodwin, professor of education, in the Division of Special Education and Counseling, is named President’s Distinguished Professor.

Nov. 17, 2005

  • The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education have named Carlos Gutiérrez as the 2005 U.S. Professor of the Year in the Master’s University and College category. Gutiérrez, one of only four in the nation honored, was selected from nominations of more than 300 top U.S. professors.
  • Cal State L.A. 30th anniversary celebration of its Japanese Studies Center.

Winter 2006

  • Cal State L.A. receives a new 600-megahertz NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectrometer, funded jointly by the University, W.M. Keck Foundation and National Institutes of Health. It is the most powerful machine of its kind within the CSU, enabling researchers to analyze the three-dimensional structure of molecules and image small animals in vivo.

Feb. 2006

  • Groundbreaking for new $30 million University-Student Union.
  • Unveiling of the sculpture of Cal State L.A.’s Golden Eagle mascot as part of the University’s Homecoming Week festivities.

Spring 2006

  • Ann Garry, professor and chair of Cal State L.A.’s Department of Philosophy, was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture at Tokyo University, Japan, during the 2006-2007 academic year.
  • Antony John Kunnan, education professor and chair of Cal State L.A.’s Division of Applied and Advanced Studies in Education, was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture at Tunghai University, Taiwan, during the 2006-2007 academic year.

June 2006

  • CSU/Cal State L.A. honorary doctorate awarded to David C. Lizárraga, chairman and chief executive officer of The East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU), at 59th Commencement.
  • The University Welcome Center, a focal point for the entrance of campus, opens for service.

July 2006

  • Cal State L.A.’s 600-megahertz high-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) laboratory, located at Physical Sciences 32, was named for Anthony Fratiello, an emeritus professor of chemistry at Cal State L.A.
  • Dance faculty Ardie Bryant was designated a "Cultural Treasure" by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

Aug. 2006

  • Cal State L.A. is the first university west of the Mississippi and second overall to achieve successful flight powered by fuel cells. The unmanned aerial vehicle was developed by a team of mechanical engineering students working in Cal State L.A.’s Multidisciplinary Flight Dynamics and Control Laboratory.

Fall 2006

  • The Division of Information Technology Service, in collaboration with Associated Students, Inc., impliented a campuswide wireless program.

Sept. 2006

  • Marguerite Ann Snow, professor of education in the Division of Applied and Advanced Studies, is named President’s Distinguished Professor.

Oct. 12, 2006

  • Salazar Hall rededicated with the unveiling of a portrait of Rubén Salazar by John Martin.

Nov. 2006

  • Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics opens with support by a bequest from Virginia E. Smith.

May 11, 2007

  • The Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center—a five-story $102 million facility—was dedicated in a formal ceremony, joined by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

June 2007

  • CSU honorary doctorate awarded to former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher at Cal State L.A.’s 60th Commencement.
  • EPIC (Educational Participation in Communities) celebrated 40 years of service to the community, boasting approximately 80,000 student-volunteers since its inception.

July 2007

  • Parking designations have been changed in coordination with new vehicular signage. Parking lots are identified by numbers and parking structures are identified by letters.

Sept. 10, 2007

  • Groundbreaking for the Marc and Eva Stern Math and Science School (Stern MASS), a charter high school that will be housed on the Cal State L.A. campus.

Fall 2007

  • Domnita Dumitrescu, professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature, is named President’s Distinguished Professor.

Nov. 2007

  • ABET, Inc., the national accreditation organization for engineering education, bestowed upon Cal State L.A. its President’s Award for Diversity, citing the University’s decades of success in increasing diversity among engineering students and in the ranks of technology professionals.

June 6, 2008

  • Dionicio Morales, founder of the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF), was conferred an honorary doctorate by the California State University Board of Trustees at Cal State L.A.’s 61st Commencement.

Fall 2008

  • Gerald Beer, professor of mathematics, is named Cal State L.A. President’s Distinguished Professor.
  • Cal State L.A. Professors Mohammad Auwal, Susan Mason, Elliot L. Oring, Hassan M. Rezaie Boroon and Marguerite Ann Snow were selected to conduct research and teach through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in such countries as Togo, Qatar, Japan, Iceland and Cyprus. Cal State L.A.’s five-scholar Fulbright contingent is one of the largest in the country.
  • The Department of Chicano Studies celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Jan. 9, 2009

  • The University-Student Union (U-SU) celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, guided tours, free food and giveaways, and entertainments.

Mar. 26, 2009

  • Alliance College-Ready Public Schools held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Marc and Eva Stern Math and Science School (Stern MASS). Stern MASS is the first charter high school on a CSU campus in Southern California.

Apr. 5-9, 2009

  • Cal State L.A.’s Model United Nations (MUN) received national distinction, garnering top awards in all three categories at the annual National MUN conference in New York.

Apr. 7, 2009

  • La Kretz Hall, the first wing of the Wallis Annenberg Integrated Sciences Complex, celebrated its grand opening with a formal dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony. The three-story, 65,000-square-foot facility accommodates instruction and research activities in fields ranging from biochemistry to zoology.

Apr. 15, 2009

  • With its “choccoli” creation, Cal State L.A.’s nutritional science team received first place at the 2009 SCIFTS (Southern California Institute of Food Technologists Section) Student Product Development Competition.

June 4-5, 2009

  • Achieving 1,092 miles per gallon, Cal State L.A.’s student-built supermileage vehicle, Super Eagle, placed third at the 2009 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Supermileage® competition in Marshall, Michigan.

Summer 2009

  • A bronze plaque, honoring the University’s fifth president, John A. Greenlee, has been installed on the Greenlee Plaza.

Fall 2009

  • Roberto Cantú, professor of Chicano Studies and English, is named President’s Distinguished Professor.
  • Cal State L.A. Professors Mohammad Auwal and Wai Kit Choi were selected to conduct research and teach through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in such countries as Qatar and Hong Kong. Terry Allison, dean of Cal State L.A.’s College of Arts and Letters, was in South Korea during the summer as a Fulbright scholar with the U.S.-Korea International Education Administrators Program.

March 2010

  • Cal State L.A. students received the grand prize for its grandfather clock, made of brass, aluminum and steel, at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) WESTEC Manufacturing Challenge in Los Angeles.

April 2010

  • Representing the Republic of Turkey, Cal State L.A.’s student delegation brought home two major awards from this year’s National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference in New York: the “Outstanding Position Papers” and “Distinguished Delegation” awards.
  • Cal State L.A. celebrated the 50th anniversary of its Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

June 12, 2010

  • Bishop Charles E. Blake, pastor of the West Angeles Church, was conferred an honorary doctorate by the California State University Board of Trustees at Cal State L.A.’s 63rd Commencement.

Fall 2010

  • Robert Desharnais, professor of biology, is named Cal State L.A. President’s Distinguished Professor.
  • Cal State L.A. was awarded a three-year, $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation to create a core facility to boost research activities for the University’s Center for Energy and Sustainability (CEaS).

Sept. 21, 2010

  • Cal State L.A.’s 11+ acres of athletic facilities were named the Billie Jean King Sports Complex in acknowledgement of King’s legacy as an alumna and University ambassador, and as a champion both in tennis and for student athletes.

Jan. 8, 2011

  • Howard Xu, professor of microbiology, received the CSU Anthony Andreoli Faculty Service Award during the California State University’s 23rd Annual Biotechnology Symposium in Anaheim.

Feb. 18, 2011

  • “Ferguson Courtyard”—the quad located in between La Kretz Hall and Wing B of the Wallis Annenberg Integrated Sciences Complex—was officially dedicated in honor of CSULA’s emeritus professor of chemistry, Lloyd N. Ferguson.

Feb. 23, 2011

  • The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts broke ground on its new $25 million facility, to be constructed on the southern end of Lot 5.

March 25, 2011

  • The Public Safety building—located at the northern end of Lot 1 and adjacent to the Welcome Center on Paseo Rancho Castillo—celebrated its grand opening with a formal ceremony and open house.

April 2011

  • Cal State L.A.’s Golden Eagle Pinball Machine won first place in the university division at the 2011 AeroDef Manufacturing Exhibition and Conference Manufacturing Challenge, an exciting hands-on competition to engage future generations in technology and manufacturing.
  • Representing the Kingdom of Spain, Cal State L.A.’s student delegation once again won two top awards at the annual National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference in New York. This year, the CSULA student garnered the “Outstanding Position Papers” and “Distinguished Delegation” awards.

June 11, 2011

  • L.A. Police Commission President John H. Mack, who served as president of the Los Angeles Urban League from August of 1969 until his retirement in 2005, was conferred an honorary doctorate by the California State University Board of Trustees at Cal State L.A.’s 64th Commencement.

Fall 2011

  • Kylie Hsu, professor of Chinese in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, is named Cal State L.A. President’s Distinguished Professor.
  • With a total of 89 students, including the first cohort of 39 freshmen, the newly-established Honors College is an academically enriched and socially supportive community for high-achieving scholars.

Nov. 17, 2011

  • For the collaborative San Nicolas Island Archaeological Field School Program, Cal State L.A. and the U.S. Navy were honored with the 2011 Governor’s Historic Preservation Award by the California State Parks and the State Office of Historic Preservation.

January 2012

  • David Blekhman, associate professor of technology at Cal State L.A., was awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach and conduct research in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Feb. 1, 2012

  • The American Society of Engineering Education Corporate Member Council (CMC) presented Cal State L.A.’s Professional Practice Program (also known as the Senior Design Program) with the 2012 CMC Excellence in Engineering Education Collaboration Award.

March 2012

  • Ping Yao, professor of history and director of the Asian and Asian American Studies Program at Cal State L.A., was awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to travel to China.

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