Welcome to the first day of the fall semester
Dear students, faculty and staff,
I am delighted to welcome everyone to UIC for another busy and fulfilling academic year. I hope that you had an enjoyable and reinvigorating summer spent with family and friends.
Whether you are located in Chicago or at one of our regional campuses in Rockford, the Quad Cities, Peoria, Springfield or Urbana, you are an important part of the UIC family.
We’ve had a whirlwind of activity during the past year, and this summer was no exception.
This month we welcomed the UIC John Marshall Law School as our 16th college and Chicago’s first public law school. This is one of the most important advances for UIC in over three decades, since the original Circle Campus merged with the medical center in 1982. As part of UIC, the law school will bring new opportunities to students and faculty to collaborate in interdisciplinary teaching, research and community engagement.
Last week, nearly 550 students moved into our newest 10-story dorm with more than 50,000 square feet of academic space that fosters learning through technology and collaborative design. The building — which houses students representing 12 colleges with 70 different majors — gives students state-of-the-art amenities to enhance their living/learning experience and bolster student success.
In July, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and several elected officials were on campus to help open the Engineering Innovation Building to accommodate the College of Engineering, UIC’s fastest-growing college. The 57,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art building is the new home of the chemical and civil and materials engineering departments. The facility houses the Chicago area’s only high-bay structural laboratory, which allows engineers and industry professionals to design and test large and heavy infrastructural components.
There are additional renovations taking place all across the university, both large and small, that are part of our growing momentum to attract the best and brightest while maintaining our mission of access to excellence.
We’ve also added more green space and trees throughout campus, new Adirondack chairs to the east and west campus, and improved bicycle lanes on Harrison Street.
As we begin another year at UIC, there is plenty of recent news to make you proud of your university. Please visit the UIC today website to read about our latest research, accomplishments and our role as one of the top public research universities in the nation.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude and appreciation to all of our faculty and staff for everything they do to enhance our students’ educational experience, and the research, service and care they provide at UIC and to communities around the city and state.
I offer you my best wishes for a successful year ahead.
Go Flames!
Michael D. Amiridis
Chancellor
