Letter from Dean Wendt - Fall 2019

I’m pleased to share that Cal Poly welcomed its most diverse and academically accomplished class this fall. In the College of Science and Mathematics, 657 first-year students joined the class of 2023 and 86 transfer students entered the class of 2021. 

During the summer, nearly 400 students engaged in undergraduate research with faculty mentors. Research provides a crucial Learn by Doing experience for our students. By entering into the sometimes messy act of discovery themselves, they learn the perseverance and confidence that allow them to be ready day one in the professional world.

Physics major Marissa Dierkes entered the Frost Summer Undergraduate Research Program after her first year at Cal Poly and never looked back. With two published papers and a second place award for her poster presentation at the International Conference on Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology in Wellington, New Zealand, Marissa has her sights set on a doctoral program.

Many of our students have overcome incredible odds to be here, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. One such determined individual, biology senior Nathaniel Morgan, overcame childhood homelessness and dyslexia to earn the 2019 California State University Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement. 

Our alumni take this can-do attitude with them into the world, as exemplified by our 2019 Honored Alumnus, Tim Geistlinger (Biochemistry, ‘92). Among his many accomplishments, Tim led the research team that developed Beyond Meat, a plant-based meat that expands dietary options while reducing the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. 

I know you, too, are making an impact in your professions, and I’d love to know where life has taken you after Cal Poly. Please take a moment to send us an update.

I also want to recognize our dedicated faculty and staff. Several faculty members received well-deserved honors from Cal Poly. Our staff and faculty share the rare trait of truly putting students first and considering student success as their success.

In closing, thank you for all you do for the college, for your local communities and for the global community to which we all belong.
 

Dean Wendt, Dean
College of Science & Mathematics
dwendt@calpoly.edu