The University of California looked back upon 2013 as a year marked by transition and celebration — starting with several changes in leadership.
 
UC President Janet Napolitano chats with members of the UC Santa Cruz women's soccer team.
 
UC welcomed Janet Napolitano as its 20th president, the first woman in UC history to hold the post. Napolitano quickly began making her mark as a leader intent on tackling some of UC's biggest challenges. In one of her first acts, she proposed a tuition freeze for the 2014–15 academic year and pledged to pursue a tuition policy that would reduce volatility.

She also promised to boost California community college transfers; speed technology transfer to benefit both the university and researchers; and make UC a zero-net energy user by 2025. Her UC motto: "Education for California. Research for the World."
 
At UC Berkeley, Nicholas Dirks took the helm as chancellor. In a video reflection on his first six months at Cal, Dirks said it had been one of the most rewarding times of his life and proposed an ambitious agenda of "big ideas, constructive collaboration and unconventional thinking."
 
And UC Riverside welcomed Kim Wilcox, a former top official at Michigan State University, as its ninth chancellor. Wilcox has brought a friendly touch to the role, raising funds for student scholarships and handing out cookies during finals week to students cramming for exams.
 

Read the complete story here. And click here for UCLA's Top 13 UCLA stories of 2013 — from brain surgery during which the patient was awake and playing his guitar to the research discovery of a biological clock in our genomes that may shed light on why our bodies age and how we can slow the process.