About Us

The history of the First-Year Success Research Institute (FSRI) can be traced back to 1969 when it started at Caltech in a different form and under the name of the Summer Support Program (SSP). The program was founded by Lee F. Browne, Director of Secondary School Relations and Special Student Programs at Caltech from 1970 - 1990, who dedicated his life to expanding student access to STEM education. Caltech's main dining hall, the Lee F. Browne Dining Hall, is named in his honor.

SSP later became the Bridge Program directed by Eduardo (Eddie) Grado, Director of Student Affirmative Action Programs at Caltech from 1990 - 1993, in 1991. Both SSP and the Bridge Program focused on summer coursework (math, chemistry, physics, writing) meant to assist incoming students from underrepresented communities in their transition into Caltech academics and culture. Both programs also emphasized study skills development (e.g. time management) and community building (via a living-learning community, evening social activities, and weekend field trips).

Bridge Program evolved into the Freshmen Summer Institute (FSI) while following a similar model. Later, a research component was added to the summer programming, thus marking a change to the program's name to Freshmen Summer Research Institute (FSRI).

In 2022, FSRI's name was again changed to First-Year Success Research Institute to be more inclusive as well as to reflect the change in the program's timeline; FSRI now extends beyond summer and all admitted incoming first-year Caltech students are eligible to apply for FSRI. Students who are a part of the FSRI community benefit from programming throughout their Caltech undergraduate career and become a part of our SSP-Bridge-FSI-FSRI alumni network after graduation.