My closest friend is the glass blower in Rowland Hall and does all the physics and chemistry glass blowing. He's also the longest working employee at UCI having started there when the campus opened. He knows all the professors in the chemistry departments.
As a result my wife and I have become close friends with several profs and post docs. . The department is recognized for its contribution in research in areas such as analytical chemistry, atmospheric chemistry, chemical biology, inorganic and organic chemistry, nanochemistry, physical chemistry along with other areas of study. Many are recognized world wide and travel often throughout the world providing lectures at universities in Germany, China, South Korea, etc. These are some of the smartest people I've been privileged to know.
You might also be interested to know that Rowland Hall is where the Rams held their class rooms last summer. My glass blowing friend had some interesting stories from last year. Apparently the wide receivers had their own class room adjacent to his lab. One day a few of the players stopped in to see what all the gas hoses, tubes, etc was all about. My friend who is German-meaning there is his way or the highway-told them to get out rather forcefully-and apparently the word spread his room was occupied by a crazy German and not to go in -which apparently was respected.