UCSB and the Meaning of the Prize.

In the past three years, three members of the faculty at UC Santa Barbara have won Nobel Prizes - Walter Kohn for chemistry in 1998, and, last year, Alan Heeger shared the prize in chemistry, and Herbert Kroemer shared the prize in physics.

One of the questions that people often asked me since the most recent prizes were announced last October is, "What does this mean for UCSB?" Obviously, it has meant a great deal. The Nobel Prizes have an impact far beyond the monetary awards, the ceremonies, and all the wonderful attention lavished on the recipients by the press. The class of students who enrolled at UCSB this year were the best qualified academically and the most diverse we have yet seen. Our ability to attract such students has been greatly enhanced by the visibility that these prizes have brought to this institution. Also, private gifts to the university are up. Last year, the total amount received in private gifts - $48 million - was four times what UCSB received in donations just four years earlier. We also are setting new records in research funding and partnerships with private industry. I believe that the quality of teaching and research at UCSB, across all of the disciplines, is getting greater recognition and appreciation as a resu lt of these prizes. The international visibility that these prizes have brought to our programs at UCSB will continue to benefit us for years to come. These are all exciting and positive developments. But one way in which everyone at UCSB has benefited from these prizes is motivational. The Nobel Prizes bring a great boost to morale. I can say with confidence that everyone associated with our university feels extremely proud of and inspired by our Nobelists. Students are particularly inspired by them. The idea that students see these Nobelists walking on campus and know that they can make an appointment to go meet with a professor who has won a Nobel Prize is just tremendously exciting and uplifting to them.

Being part of the University of California system, which has been home to so many Nobel Prize winners, also enriches the impact of these prizes. Indeed, being located in this state seems to add more value and importance to these awards. Science and technology are at the foundation of California's economy. They also are the prime subjects of so much of the basic research that takes place in this state. What makes the potential of all this splendid work so great is the way in which institutions, industries, and state government in California nurture creativity and collaboration at the highest levels of intellectual inquiry.

The California Institutes for Science and Innovation are examples of this spirit and this approach. These institutes were proposed by Governor Gray Davis and have the support of the California Legislature. One of these institutes, the California Nanosystems Institute, is a joint project between UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. All three of the Nobel Prize winners on our faculty are affiliated with the nanosystems institute, which will benefit tremendously from this association as well as from the brilliance and inspiration that Professors Heeger, Kohn, and Kroemer will provide.