University of California, Los Angeles Diploma: A Public University Born from the Growth of Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public research university in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, California It is part of the University of California system, combining undergraduate education, advanced research, professional training and public service. The evolution of Southern California during the twentieth century parallels the evolution of a small teaching college into a comprehensive university.

UCLA was founded in 1919 as the Southern Branch of the University of California, on Vermont Avenue at the old campus of the Los Angeles State Normal School. Teaching teachers formed a significant part of its early identity, but its academic ambitions expanded rapidly. The College was established in 1923 with thirteen major fields like chemistry, English, economics, history and zoology. These subjects were the basis for a broader university program.

The move to Westwood in 1929 was a turning point. The new location housed an institution that had outgrown its original building. Moving was a memorable campus event in itself with students, faculty and staff helping to take possession of buildings still in their completion. In 1927 the university took the name University of California at Los Angeles; “at” was replaced by the familiar comma in the university’s official name in 1953. Check UCLA’s official university history for more details.

One of UCLA’s most impactful research moments happened in a nondescript engineering room. Computer scientist Leonard Kleinrock’s team sent the first host-to-host message over ARPANET from Boelter Hall to Stanford Research Institute on 29 October 1969. The researchers wanted to send the word “LOGIN” but the connection dropped after the first two letters. That brief exchange was another milestone in the development of the Internet.