September 13, 2007

Cal State Fullerton milestones

1957: Orange County State College established by an act of the California Legislature

1959: Official enrollment of only upper-division and graduate students totaled 452

1960: First commencement held at Fullerton College

1962: First Intercollegiate Elephant Race; name changed to Orange State College

1963: First freshman admitted

1964: Name changed to California State College at Fullerton

1972: Name changed to California State University, Fullerton in recognition of the campus having met criteria for university status

1979: Arboretum opened; baseball team wins first NCAA National Championship

1983: Football team wins first PCAA championship and played Northern Illinois University in the California Bowl

1984: CSF is a 1984 Olympic Games venue for handball competition. The baseball team wins its second national championship.

1986: Softball team wins its first national championship

1988: Ronald Reagan makes his final Orange County public appearance as president on behalf of the Bush-Quayle campaign

1989: Mission Viejo campus opened

1990: Milton Gordon named president of CSF

1992: Sports complex opened

1995: Baseball team won its third national championship

1996: The largest grant in CSF’s history, a $6 million from National Science Foundation, is awarded to David Pagni, professor of mathematics

1997: W.M. Keck Foundation Center for Molecular Structure, the nation’s first comprehensive X-Ray crystallography facility dedicated

2001: El Toro satellite campuses open. Enrollment surpasses 30,000

2004: Steve Mihaylo pledges $3 million to College of Business and Economics. The baseball team wins its fourth NCAA National Championship

2005: University breaks 35,000 student population mark

2006: Arboretum dedicates $2.28 million visitors’ center; Performing Arts Center opens.