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Dear Mr. Mitchell,
I am writing to introduce myself to you as the new Chair of the UCLA Department of Geography and to begin what I hope will be a regular conversation with our loyal alumni. UCLA is approaching its one hundredth year and is stronger than ever. The recent US News and World Report ranking placed us second only to Berkeley among public universities--and the Geography Department is a big part of that success, currently ranked #2 among Geography Departments in the United States.
Long recognized internationally as a leader in education and research, the Department offers undergraduate, master's and Ph.D. degrees in Geography and Environmental Studies with classes and student projects ranging from satellite imaging to climate change to globalization.
I come to the role of Department Chair after 17 years with the department. As such, I have learned a tremendous amount about our students, and I remain committed to continuing to improve their experiences here. For example, I developed a wildly popular small field course in the Sierra Nevadas in which I backpack with undergraduate students into the Hall Wilderness area to teach them first-hand about mountain environments. Over the past three years, I have mentored many UCLA undergraduate and graduate students in independent research projects studying the Greenland ice sheet (for some spectacular footage of this work, click here). Also, I wrote THE WORLD IN 2050, a successful lay-audience book incorporating many examples of undergraduate and graduate research within its pages.
In addition to attracting the very best geography and environmental studies undergraduate and graduate students in the world, the Department has grown a truly world class faculty including Jared Diamond, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning bookGUNS GERMS AND STEEL. These talented teachers and scholars are a key component of our education mission and an important reason for our Department's top ranking by national and world rating agencies. Over the past five years, many of our long-standing professors have achieved new heights, and we have recruited some truly excellent new professors to join the department. You may learn more about us by visiting our newly designed website at www.geog.ucla.edu.
Creating new opportunities for undergraduates to work more closely with faculty is a personal priority of mine. To aid this, as I begin my new role as Chair, I am excited about communicating with our many alumni around the country and world. I am always happy to hear from you to hear more about your experiences at UCLA and beyond, and to discuss ways you can support and engage with the department.
Best regards,
Laurence C. Smith
Professor and Chair
UCLA Department of Geography
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