Currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $4.8 billion annually to the local economy. The campus is a 2011 recipient of Second Nature's Climate Leadership Award; a 2008 recipient of the California Governor's Environmental & Economic Leadership Award for Climate Change, the state's highest environmental honor; and was named Sierra magazine’s most environmentally friendly campus in 2014 and 2015.

As a Better Buildings Challenger Partner, the campus is committing 7 million square feet of its most energy-intensive building space, including more than 180 buildings housing instructional, office, complex laboratory space, and recreational and patient care facilities. The campus will share energy innovations developed on campus as part of its commitment, including the Smart Labs program, which has successfully reduced energy consumption in laboratory space by more than 50% using advanced occupancy and air quality sensors to reduce the number of air exchanges per hour when conditions permit.