San Diego is home to five major universities. The big man on campus is the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). At about 2,000-acres, UCSD has close to 700 buildings. Filling those classrooms and buildings are about 29,000 students. Despite all the accolades, research and academic success of UCSD, it lacks an adequate conference center or auditorium. The last time an auditorium was built on campus was over 40 years ago. Today, that auditorium, Sumner Hall, still serves the campus audience, but has been woefully behind technologically.

The exciting stuff is happening at Scripps Institution of Oceanography on the UCSD campus. Down the hill from the main campus, on the bluffs above the Pacific Ocean, has stood Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). Since the early 1900s, Scripps has stood as the standard for environmental science and marine biology on 170 acres along the shores of La Jolla. The property is on the southwestern edge of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Scripps Institution is a world class institution recognized throughout the world.

Good things come in waves. The first wave came for Scripps Institution over 100-years ago. It was in the early days, and at the behest of the Scripps family, that the institution was founded. They founded it and they funded it. Generation after generation of the Scripps family have continued to plunk down money to benefit the research and reach of the Institute. Ellen Browning Scripps stipulated in her will that an endowment fund would be set up to the tune of $400,000. For the last 70 years, that $400,000 endowment has contributed to the work of Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Throughout the decades, Scripps Institution has pioneered and led the way. In 2009, in the wake of worldwide environmental concerns, Scripps is now approaching another crest of formidable leadership. With the financial generosity of the Scripps family and other private individuals, Scripps flings open its doors to scientists around the world to engage in discussions that will yield solutions for global environmental issues.

The Scripps family has had the vision to understand the importance of this great San Diego asset. In fact, during the Great Depression, it was E.W. Scripps who saved the Institution from slipping into obscurity. Now, Scripps Institution of Oceanography can work to save the planet.

From the sand of La Jolla Shores, you can look up just south of Scripps Pier to see the new, eye-catching building under the Scripps umbrella. This new conference center boasts 12,000 square feet of meeting space and a new state-of-the-art main auditorium which seats 275+. The building has a seating capacity of 850. Most of the money for the $15 million project was paid with private funds.

The Robert Paine Scripps Forum for Science, Society, and the Environment or the Scripps Seaside Forum will now become a major player and host for the global discussion about climate change, ocean and earth scientific reseach and global environmental issues. Kicking off the exciting potential and greater visibility for the Forum was the presentation to Al Gore of the inaugural "Roger Revelle Prize" from UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography in March 2009.

Just west of the old Scripps Aquarium, the brand new Scripps Seaside Forum building complex has emerged next to the parking lot above Scripps Pier Beach. For the first time in decades, this new complex opens up an area of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography that once appeared to be off-limits to the public. No more. This new building clearly stands out from the other buildings on the property that represent how architectural styles have changed over the decades. These include an early 1900s Irving Gill, several 1950s institutional buildings and some 1970s wooden buildings.

The beautiful curves and lines of the new Robert Paine Scripps Forum complex add a natural grace that blends in with the stunning coastal bluffs and the Pacific Ocean. On any given weekend, the public is invited to park in the lot (remember to insert $1/ hour in the ticket machine) and wander around. We strongly encourage you to take some time to enjoy the beauty of this new, thoughtfully designed complex and, most importantly, take in the jaw-dropping view of its backyard, the Pacific Ocean.

It takes vision and leadership to establish a research laboratory and build it into a pre-eminent environmental/marine/biological research hub. It will also take that kind of vision and leadership, through a collaborative think tank, to make sure that not only an institution like Scripps is around for another 100 years, but that it and those like it, can find the solutions to ward off the ill-effects of climate change and global environmental crises.

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