June 2006
Friends of the College of Engineering,
Last month, Berkeley lost one of its most esteemed alumni, John Kenneth Galbraith. Galbraith graduated from Cal with a Ph.D. in 1934 and, as we know, went on to become a renowned economist, teacher and diplomat as well as the most widely read economist of the 20th century. I recently came across this quote from a 1968 Atlantic Monthly interview where Galbraith commented that he'd always wanted to stay in California, but that it had never quite worked out, as he recalled a visit to our campus:
"I strolled across the California campus -- over Strawberry Creek, by the Campanile, down by the Library, out Sather Gate. I was taught, as were most of my generation, that no one should allow himself the weak luxury of sentiment or even emotion. To this day when I write 'Love' at the end of a letter I always remind myself that is only modern affectation, in all respects a matter of form. I was suddenly overwhelmed by the thought that I loved this place -- the paths, trees, flowers, buildings, even the new ones. I was deeply embarrassed."
At commencement, as I looked over the ocean of eager young faces sitting before us in the Greek Theatre, I recalled those words and how closely they reflected my own feelings, and truly hoped that these new graduates would look back upon their years at Cal with the same affection Galbraith did.
This year we conferred a record 1,144 undergraduate and graduate Berkeley engineering degrees, a number that will continue to grow as we admit a larger freshmen class each year. We were also honored to have Berkeley engineering alumnus Dr. Paul Jacobs, CEO of San Diego-based QUALCOMM, as our commencement speaker. Paul reminded us that our Berkeley education is far more about personal transformation than simply about book learning. "You have received one of the best engineering educations in the world," he said. "You knew that -- it is why you came to this engineering school and why you've worked so hard for so long to get to this day. But don't underestimate what else you've learned. You've been exposed to very diverse viewpoints and unconventional thinking." I know John Kenneth Galbraith would agree. View Paul's commencement address on our website.
I hope you are enjoying our long-awaited spring.
Go Bears!
/rich
A. Richard Newton
Dean, College of Engineering and
the Roy W. Carlson Professor of Engineering
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