One of the joys of my new role has been meeting alumni from across the college. As a professor, I watched students grow over the course of a few years. As dean, I have the privilege of seeing where those journeys lead.

Again and again, I hear similar threads in their Cal Poly stories: learning through experience, tackling unfamiliar problems and connecting ideas with practice and with people. Together they describe a liberal arts education shaped by Cal Poly's polytechnic identity.

In the pages that follow you’ll meet Child Development alum Lynn Davis, who recounts responding to an unfamiliar opportunity by saying “I don’t know, but I think I can figure it out.” Davis carried that mindset through a career that took her from teaching to technology executive leadership. More than five decades later, you’ll find that same spirit in nine graduating Art and Design students who didn't wait for an opportunity to exhibit their work: they formed a collective, raised funds and produced their own professional show. And you’ll meet student designers who jumped into the complexities of semester conversion, translating dense advising information into messages that resonated with their peers. Different generations, yet the same habits of mind.

Learn by Doing does more than deepen learning. It changes our students’ relationship with uncertainty, giving them the confidence to take initiative, learn from setbacks, seek out others and keep moving forward.

I’ve come to appreciate that the lasting gift of a Cal Poly education isn't simply what our graduates know. It’s how they approach what they don’t know yet.

Best wishes,

Kate Murphy

Dean

College of Liberal Arts