UC San Diego is regularly listed among the world’s top research institutions, but a new ranking puts it in first place for a popular sport — surfing.
Surfer Magazine released a ranking on Tuesday that places the university first in the country for surfing, citing the proximity to Black’s Beach, a championship surf team and a unique 1-unit course titled “The Physics of Surfing.”
“UC San Diego is the best school to be a surfer because it’s the perfect cover-up,” said Evan Slater, an alumnus and now Hurley vice president of marketing, in the Surfer Magazine article. “People take you seriously because you’re going to a ‘smart’ school. In the meantime, you get to learn Blacks’ most intimate curves for at least four years.”
UC San Diego has many other famous surfing alumni including: Rusty Preisendorfer, founder and CEO of Rusty Surfboards; Ricky Grigg, big-wave pioneer and professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii; Tom O’Keefe, founder of Red X Fin Systems; Isabelle Tihanyi, founder of Surf Divas surf school; Mark Massara, general counsel of O’Neill Wetsuits; and Jon Sundt, founder of the San Diego-based Altegris Investments.
Two other San Diego institutions also made the ranking’s top 10: Pt. Loma Nazarene University at third and San Diego State University at eighth.
