University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis, commonly abbreviated to UC Davis or UCD, is one of the ten University of California campuses. It is located in Davis, California, about fifteen miles west of Sacramento in California's Central Valley. As of Fall 2003, it had a total student enrollment of 30,229 with over 147,000 degreed alumni.
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2 Organization 3 Academics 4 Sports, Clubs, and Student traditions 5 Notable alumni 6 External links |
What was to become the seventh UC Campus opened its doors to 40 degree students (all male) from UC Berkeley in January 1909 as the University Farm. (The farm began accepting non-degree farmers' short courses in October of 1908; there were initially around 115 such attendees.) The establishment of the Farm was largely the result of the vision and perseverance of Peter J. Shields, secretary of the State Agricultural Society, and the eponym of UC Davis' Peter J. Shields Library. He began to champion the cause of a University Farm to teach agriculture in a more applied fashion after hearing about Californian students who chose to go to out-of-state universities due to the lack of such a program in the University of California at that time. He later stated:
History
After two failed bills, a law authorizing the creation of a University Farm was passed in 1905, and Yolo County, home to some of California's prime farmland, was chosen as the site. The Farm accepted its first female students in 1914 from Berkeley. Renamed in 1922 the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture, it continued growing at a breakneck pace: in 1916 the Farm's 314 students occupied the original 778 acre (3 km²) campus, but by 1951 it had already expanded to a size of 3,000 acres (12 km²). In 1959, the campus was declared by the Regents of the University of California as the seventh general campus in the University of California system. It has since grown into a vibrant and politically active campus, with noted protests during the Vietnam War years.
UC Davis is a research university, ranked 16th among public universities nationwide by the National Research Council, 11th among public universities nationwide by U.S. News & World Report, and 15th in research funding among U.S. universities by the National Science Foundation.
Its faculty includes 18 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 6 members of the National Academy of Engineering, 7 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2 Pulitzer Prize winners, 1 Fields Medalist, and 2 MacArthur Fellows.
The university is known for its extremely selective veterinary medicine program, as well as for its Department of Applied Science, created and formerly chaired by physicist Edward Teller. The Department of Viticulture and Enology (scientific study of grape growing and winemaking) is world-renowned and is responsible for significant advancements in wine making used by many of California's best known wineries.
After finishing first in NCAA Division II six times in 2003, the UC Davis Aggies (or Ags) are currently in the four-year process of transitioning to NCAA Division I; the Aggies will be members of the Great West Football Conference for football and the Big West Conference for other sports. The official school colors are blue and gold, and the mascot is a mustang.
UC Davis is famous as a biking campus, and the city of Davis boasts over two bikes per capita, the most of any U.S city. Bikers are virtually ubiquitous around campus, and a lot of bike-only infrastructure exists, such as bike circles, large bike lanes and traffic signals exclusively for bikes. Davis also has a bike police, which among other things, gives tickets for the seemingly difficult feat of biking under the influence (BUI). All bikes on the UC Davis campus must also be registered with a California Bicycle license, available for $8 from various bike stores.
UC Davis is also well known for its bus service, Unitrans, and their trademark London double decker buses. It is believed to be the only general purpose (non-sightseeing) transit system in the U.S. to operate vintage double decks in daily service and has been in operation since 1968. The system is operated and managed entirely by students and offers fixed-route transportation throughout the city.
Mark Grieb, Quarterback, San Jose Sabercats
Gus Lee, Author, China Boy, Tiger's Tale
Ken O'Brien, Quarterback, New York Jets
Martin Yan, Chef, host of popular television show "Yan Can Cook"
Organization
Chancellors
The office of Chancellor was begun in 1958 when Provost Stanley B. Freeborn was promoted to Chancellor as part of a major reorganization of the UC system by UC President Robert Gordon Sproul:Colleges and Professional Schools
Academics
Sports, Clubs, and Student traditions
Notable alumni
Igor Birman, California Delegation Member, 2004 Republican National ConventionExternal links
University of California
Berkeley | Davis | Irvine | Los Angeles | Merced | Riverside | San Diego | San Francisco | Santa Barbara | Santa Cruz
