UC Irvine Earned Its Recognition

* I read with great interest your article on UC Irvine’s rise in stature as a leading university (“An ‘A’ for Improvement,” Oct. 19).

As a longtime Orange County resident, and as a member of the UC Board of Regents, I take great pride in UCI’s success, and I’m pleased to see that the university is being recognized for its accomplishments.

This recognition has come from many sources, including: U.S. News & World Report, which recently ranked UCI the eighth-best public university in the country: the National Cancer Institute, which has given UCI’s Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center its most prestigious honor, designation as a “comprehensive cancer center,” and the Assn. of American Universities, which elected UCI to its membership in 1996 in recognition of the exceptional quality of the university’s programs.

These honors reflect the legacy of strong leadership at UCI, as well as the university’s comprehensive strengths, with programs in the arts and humanities as well as science and medicine gaining national attention for their excellence. UCI also has benefited greatly from strong community support. This support--reflected in the double-digit increases in private giving over the past few years--has been vital to UCI’s success and will become even more crucial in the next few years as UCI grows to meet the needs of Orange County and California.

MEREDITH J. KHACHIGIAN

Regent, University of California