University of California, Davis

Agriculture and the land-grant university In 1868, the University of California Davis was established as a land-grant university, and immediately founded a College of Agriculture as its first college as required by the Morrill Land-Grant Acts and the university's own Organic Act. UC operated a small farm at the Berkeley campus for several years after Ezra S. Carr became professor of agriculture, but he managed to alienate both the university faculty and the state's farmers with his attempt to directly integrate practical training in farming with courses on the larger historical, social, and political dimensions of farming and got himself fired in 1874. The faculty could not understand why students should earn credit towards degrees for hoeing or plowing, and the farmers could not understand how learning the social history of farming could make their children into better farmers. He switched from "practical" to what he called "rational" instruction in scientific principles of agriculture at Berkeley. He concentrated on things like soil science and fermentation that could be researched and taught in a university laboratory, supplemented by limited data gathering and experiments (but not hands-on teaching) at agricultural experimental stations in the field. Hilgard was originally disdainful of the idea of a university farm. He felt that for such a farm to teach effectively, it would necessarily have to be a model farm with examples of the best of everything, without any reference to local profitability, climate, or circumstances, and such a thing was clearly infeasible. Shields began to champion the cause of a university farm. He was later honored as the "founder" of UC Davis in 1962, when the Shields Oak Grove on campus was named after him, and again posthumously in 1972 when the campus library was named after him. However, local farmer and politician George Washington Pierce Jr. also fought aggressively in the California State Assembly for the creation of a university farm. The bill provided that the University Farm would "be typical and representative of the best general agricultural conditions in California", and authorized an appropriation of $150,000.00 to cover the cost of purchasing land and constructing appropriate buildings. The regents officially took control of the property in September 1906 and constructed four buildings in 1907. Short courses were first offered at the University Farm in October and November 1908. On January 5, 1909, the University Farm School officially opened for instruction. At its inception, the Farm School was an agricultural high school offering a three-year course for farm boys who were at least 15 years old. As of 1913, the University Farm community was overwhelmingly male and rather immature. The first female students at Davis came from the College of Agriculture at Berkeley to visit the Farm for a few months in 1914. Women began to participate in the farmers' short courses in 1917 and then the Farm School admitted girls for the first time in 1918. Students who completed the two-year vocational courses were awarded certificates. Along the way, it was renamed in 1922 to become the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture, and in 1938, it became the College of Agriculture at Davis. Initially, no degrees were awarded at Davis. From the very beginning in January 1909, students in the College of Agriculture at Berkeley enrolled at Davis for a single semester to obtain practical training on an actual farm alongside the Farm School students, UC regularly appointed faculty members to joint positions at both Berkeley and Davis. This was possible because the two campuses are separated by only 53 miles (85 km), and the opening of a new bridge over the Carquinez Strait in 1927 greatly shortened the drive between them. Sharing faculty meant that the two campuses have always had an amicable relationship, in that Davis gradually developed its own strong identity while remaining proud of its older sibling. Davis still retains a few traditions from its early era when its identity was much more intertwined with Berkeley, such as the Bossy Cow-Cow cheer, a parody of Berkeley's Oski Yell. In 1941, the state legislature authorized the creation of a school of veterinary medicine at Davis, but the school's launch was severely delayed by the entrance of the United States into World War II and it did not open until 1948. In 1943, the U.S. Army Signal Corps took over Davis to use the campus as a training facility. From 1926 to 1947, all Davis students earning bachelor's degrees had to travel to Berkeley for graduation. In 1948, "the regents agreed to decentralize graduations". The farm came with an 86-acre private airport constructed by Hopkins in 1946. Promotion to general campus For much of its early history, Davis was treated as an offsite department of the main campus in Berkeley, and its chief administrative officer was a director who reported to the dean of the College of Agriculture at Berkeley. In 1944, the title became assistant dean and in 1951, the title was upgraded to provost. In May 1952, the university appointed Harry R. Wellman as its first vice-president—agricultural sciences in charge of a new Division of Agriculture, which included the existing statewide College of Agriculture at Berkeley, Davis, Los Angeles, and Riverside; the agricultural extension field stations; and the county farm offices. The provosts at Davis and Riverside reported to the president through this new vice-president (rather than through the College of Agriculture). However, Freeborn retired in 1959 after only one year as chancellor, then died the next year. In October 1959, Davis was formally designated by the regents as a general campus and its chancellor was vested with the same autonomy as the chancellors at UC Berkeley and UCLA—meaning that like them, Davis's chancellor would now report directly to the university's president. The Board of Regents declared that Davis's College of Agriculture "will continue to be the University's major center of teaching and research in agriculture, which will remain a dominant emphasis". Mrak fondly recalled his bicycle-riding days as a child among the orchards of the Santa Clara Valley, and during his chancellorship, he worked hard to make the Davis campus into a bicycle-friendly place. Davis's Graduate Division was established in 1961. This was followed by the creation of the College of Engineering in 1962. Documents released in 2016 through a public records request showed that the university had spent at least $175,000 to attempt to "scrub the Internet of negative postings" about the incident, in efforts that started in 2013. California newspaper The Sacramento Bee obtained a document outlining the public relations strategy, which stated: "Nevins and Associates is prepared to create and execute an online branding campaign designed to clean up the negative attention the University of California, Davis, and Chancellor Katehi have received related to the events that transpired in November 2011". The strategy included an "aggressive and comprehensive online campaign to eliminate the negative search results" intended to achieve the "eradication of references to the pepper spray incident in search results on Google for the university and the Chancellor". The university's strategic communications office, which has worked on the management of the reputation of the university and its chancellor, has had its budget substantially increased since the current chancellor took office – rising from $2.93 million in 2009 to $5.47 million in 2015. In August 2016 Katehi resigned as chancellor, and under the terms of her contract, will continue to be a full-time faculty member at UCD. New chancellor In February 2017, Gary S. May was named the seventh chancellor of UCD after a nationwide search. He officially began in the role on August 1. May, the former dean of the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech, is the second African American to be named chancellor at any of the UC campuses (after former UC Irvine chancellor, Ohio State president and former UC system president Michael Drake) and one of only three currently serving African American chancellors/presidents of an AAU institution. 2022 UAW strike In fall quarter of 2022, the United Auto Workers (UAW) led teaching assistants at UC Davis and other UC campuses in a strike that lasted several weeks. On December 16, 2022, the UCs reached a tentative agreement with the UAW. 2023 UC Davis serial stabber In 2023, three people were stabbed over the course of five days, two of whom died. On Thursday, May 4, 2023, Davis Police arrested a former UC Davis student, Carlos Reales Dominguez, as a suspect for the crimes. == Campus ==

Size and location Although named after the City of Davis, the majority of the campus is technically located adjacent to the City of Davis in an unincorporated part of Yolo and Solano counties. Some portions of university land extend into the Davis city limits. The main campus is located west of Sacramento in the Sacramento Valley, part of California's Central Valley, and is adjacent to Interstate 80. The city of Davis is a college town, with the ratio of students to long-term residents estimated at 1:4. Also contributing to the college-town environment is the close proximity of downtown Davis to the campus' main quad—a matter of a few blocks, and 5- to 10-minute walk or bike ride. Davis' 15-minute distance from Sacramento provides it with both the isolation critical to fostering a college-town environment while also providing a lively and large metropolitan area nearby. Although the campus itself is vast, the entire community of Davis is relatively small and is easily traversable on bike utilizing Davis' extensive bicycle trails. The central campus is home to notable local cats, including Compost and Cheeto. South Main Campus and South Campus The majority of Equestrian Center, and Animal Sciences buildings are located near the Arboretum Waterway, away from the core campus; the West Entry Parking Complex, the Silo Union, and the newly constructed Science Lecture Hall and the Science Laboratory Building are located nearer to the Tercero residence halls and the core of campus. The Mondavi Center, home of the University Symphony Orchestra and other cultural events, is also located near the Tercero complex. West Campus For most of UC Davis' history, West Campus has served primarily as agricultural research land. Recently, portions were developed through a $300 million public-private partnership to form the largest zero net energy community in the United States, known as UC Davis West Village. West Village plans to provide housing for 3,000 students, faculty and staff. The classes held in this area mainly involve plant sciences, but also include entomology courses as well. Students in the plant sciences maintain gardens as part of the PLS 5 lab while Entomology 156L and 158 students embark on field trips to sample fish for parasites at Putah Creek and conduct projects in forensic entomology at the UC Davis ecosystem, respectively. West Campus is also home to the University Airport, Foundation Plant Services, the California National Primate Research Center, and the Contained Research Facility, a bio-safety level 3 facility. Arboretum To the south side of the campus core is the 100-acre UC Davis Arboretum, which includes 3.5 miles of paved paths, 4,000 tree specimens, Putah Creek and Lake Spafford. On March 10, 2017, a multi-year waterway enhancement project began. The first phase of the project was completed in 2018 and a second phase was completed a year ahead of schedule in November 2024. Artwork There are seven public art statues found around campus, collectively called The Egghead Series, sculpted by the late Robert Arneson, who also taught at Davis from 1962 to 1991. Bookhead is located at the Shields Library plaza, Yin & Yang is located at the Fine Arts Complex, See No Evil/Hear No Evil is at the east lawn of King Hall (the main building for UC Davis' School of Law), Eye on Mrak (FatalLaff) is outside Mrak Hall (housing the registrar office and other administrative offices), and Stargazer is located between North Hall and Young Hall. The Yin & Yang egg heads have been recast and duplicated for installation near the Port of San Francisco Ferry Building in San Francisco. Museums on campus include the C.N. Gorman Museum, specializing in indigenous and Native American art; and the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, with a focus on local artists from the Bay Area Figurative Movement, Pop art and Funk art movements. Student housing UC Davis Student Housing operates 23 residence halls totaling 29 buildings which are organized into three areas: Segundo, Tercero, and Cuarto. UC Davis Student Housing operates and accommodates over 11,000 students. In 2021, The Green at West Village neighborhood was opened and primarily accommodates transfer students from California's Community Colleges. Transfer students are guaranteed housing for two years (junior and senior years). Continuing students are given housing if availability permits (waitlist system). In the Fall of 2023, to replace the aging Solano Park Apartments, the Orchard Park neighborhood built near Cuarto opened. It is primarily designated as family student housing, giving priority to students with children or who are married. Students who do not have children or are not married, such as graduate or continuing students, are given housing if availability permits. ==Organization and administration==

The entire University of California system is governed by the regents, a 26-member board, as established under Article IX, Section 9 of the California Constitution. The board appoints the university's principal officers including the system-wide president and UC Davis Chancellor. The UC Davis Chancellor has overall responsibility for the leadership, management, and administration of the campus and reports to the President of the University of California system, a position currently held by the former chancellor of the University of Texas System, James Milliken (academic administrator), whose predecessor was former president of Ohio State University (and chancellor of UC Irvine), Michael Drake. The Offices of the Chancellor and Provost is headed by the executive vice-chancellor and provost (EVCP). In their capacity as executive vice-chancellor, the EVCP shares with the chancellor in the overall leadership and management of campus administration and operations, whereas as provost, the EVCP is UC Davis' chief academic officer. The senior staff provides executive support to the Offices of the Chancellor and Provost. The Council of Deans and Vice-Chancellor consists of the heads of the university's major academic and administrative units. ==Demographics==

Student demographics In 2014, Chancellor Katehi stated that UC Davis aimed to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the 2018–2019 school year, with at least 25% of the undergraduate student body consisting of Latinos. As of Fall 2023, women comprised 58.4% of undergraduate students. In 2025, UC Davis was designated as a Black-Serving Institution, with over 1500 students who were Black or African American. Census data University of California-Davis was first listed as a census-designated place by the United States Census Bureau in the 2010 U.S. census. The CDP is in the Davis Joint Unified School District. 2020 census ==Academics==

The university has 102 undergraduate majors and 101 graduate programs. It has a Department of Viticulture and Enology (concerning the scientific study of grape-growing and winemaking) that has been and continues to be responsible for significant advancements in winemaking utilized by many Californian wineries. The campus claims to be noted for its top-rated Agricultural and Resource Economics programs and the large Department of Animal Science through which students can study at the university's own on-campus dairy, meat-processing plant, equestrian facility, and experimental farm. Students of Environmental Horticulture and other botanical sciences have many acres of campus farmland and the University of California, Davis, Arboretum at their disposal. The Department of Applied Science was founded and formerly chaired by physicist Edward Teller. The arts are also studied extensively on campus with subjects such as studio art, design, music, theater and dance. The Design Department at UC Davis is the only comprehensive academic design unit of the University of California system. There is also the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts which features artists from all over the globe. UC Davis undergraduate majors are divided into four colleges (with their founding in parentheses): • UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (1922) • UC Davis College of Biological Sciences (2005) • UC Davis College of Engineering (1962) • UC Davis College of Letters and Science (1951) Rankings UC Davis is considered to be a "Public Ivy." In its 2023 edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked UC Davis tied for the 6th-best public university in the United States, tied for 28th nationally and tied for 73rd globally. Washington Monthly ranked UC Davis 13th in its 2020 National University ranking, based on its contribution to the public good as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service. Money magazine ranked UC Davis 10th in the country out of 739 schools evaluated for its 2020 "Best Colleges for Your Money" edition and 4th in its list of the 50 best public schools in the U.S. Forbes in 2022 ranked UC Davis 23rd overall out of 650 colleges and universities in the U.S., 22nd among research universities, 4th among public university, and 11th for "Best Value". The university has several distinguished graduate programs ranked in the top 10 in their fields by the United States National Research Council; most notable are its programs in agricultural economics, entomology, evolutionary biology, plant biology, and ecology. Additionally, the NRC placed more than a third of UC Davis graduate programs in the top 25% of their respective fields. In 2016, U.S. News & World Report rated UC Davis 2nd globally in Agricultural Sciences, 1st in Plant and Animal Science, 4th in Environment/Ecology, and 1st nationally in Veterinary Medicine, 3rd in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 7th (tie) in Biological and Agricultural Engineering, 9th in U.S. Colonial History, 15th in Comparative Politics, 19th in Biological Sciences, 20th in Earth Sciences and 21st in Psychology. In 2013, The Economist placed UC Davis Graduate School of Management in the top 8% accredited MBA programs in the United States (ranked 37th nationally and 65th globally). The Academic Ranking of World Universities placed UC Davis 40th nationally and 90th globally for 2019. In its 2019 rankings, Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked it tied for 59th in the world. The QS World University Rankings ranked it tied for 104th globally for its 2020 ratings, with Veterinary Science ranked 2nd in the world. In 2016, Sierra Magazine ranked UC Davis 8th in its "Greenest Schools" in America list for campus sustainability and climate change efforts. Admissions Admission to UC Davis is rated as "more selective" by U.S. News & World Report. For Fall 2019, UC Davis received 78,093 freshmen applications; 30,358 were admitted (39.1%) and 5,957 enrolled. The admission rate for incoming freshman for the class of 2021 was 37.5%. Library UC Davis' libraries include the Peter J. Shields Library, the Physical Sciences & Engineering Library, the Carlson Health Sciences Library, and the Medical Center Library in Sacramento, which collectively contain more than 3 million volumes and offer a number of special collections and services. The Peter J. Shields Library has three different architectural styles due to various construction and extensions being added; it is the main library where students study on-campus, with a 24-hour reading room, open computer labs, and unique furniture. Army ROTC The university is host to an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, the Forged Gold Battalion, with more than 50 cadets. With more than 60 years in existence, it currently commissions roughly 10 graduating seniors as second lieutenants every year. ==Graduate studies==

The University of California Davis Graduate Programs of Study consist of over 90 post-graduate programs, offering masters and doctoral degrees and post-doctoral courses. The programs educate over 4,000 students from around the world. UC Davis has the following graduate and professional schools, offering the broadest range of professional programs of all campuses in the UC system (with their founding in parentheses): • UC Davis Graduate Studies (1925) • Graduate School of Management (1981) • School of Education (2002) • School of Law (1965) • School of Medicine (1966) • School of Veterinary Medicine (1948) • Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing (2009) Across the UC system, Los Angeles and Riverside are the next closest to Davis in terms of the breadth of their professional programs, but both campuses are missing a veterinary school, while Riverside is also missing a nursing school. History The University of California, Davis graduate division has a long history. Graduate education has been a major feature of the academic focus for over 80 years. This academic tradition began in the fall of 1925, when 12 students received graduate degrees from the College of Agriculture through a partnership with the graduate division of the University California at Berkeley. Over the years, the programs continued to grow, interact and collaborate. The first graduate degrees were awarded from the UC Davis campus in the fall of 1949. In 1961, autonomous graduate divisions and graduate councils were established on all University of California campuses to provide focused oversight of their graduate programs. UC Davis offers more graduate groups than any other campus in the UC system. Medical school admissions In 2016, U.S. News & World Report named UC Davis School of Medicine as the 6th most competitive medical school in the United States with an acceptance rate of 2.8%. ==Faculty and research==

UC Davis is one of 62 members in the Association of American Universities, an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. It consists of sixty universities in the United States (both public and private) and two universities in Canada. Between 2017 and 2020, UC Davis was paid $1.4 million by Neuralink to use its facilities for experiments with brain implants in monkeys. Some monkeys were euthanized after developing infections. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has filed a public records lawsuit demanding access to the research. The university claims that it complied with the California Public Records act, and that research protocols were thoroughly reviewed and approved by the campus's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Research expenditures UC Davis spent $788.8 million on research and development in fiscal year 2018, ranking it 30th in the nation. For fiscal year 2024-25, UC Davis received $961 million in external research awards and funding. Faculty honors Its faculty includes 23 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 14 members of the National Academy of Engineering, 30 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 17 members of the American Law Institute, 5 members of the Royal Society, 3 Pulitzer Prize winners, 1 Guggenheim Fellow, and 3 MacArthur Fellows. The laboratory is used by scientists and engineers from private industry, universities and government to research topics including nuclear physics, applied solid state physics, radiation effects, air quality, planetary geology and cosmogenics. UC Davis is the only UC campus, besides Berkeley, that has a nuclear laboratory. Agilent Technologies has partnered with the university to establish a Davis Millimeter Wave Research Center for research into millimeter wave and THz systems. Similarly, in 2020, the College of Engineering's Exploratory Systems Lab (ExpoLab) collaborated with Radix to formally model and verify the theoretical limitations of sharded consensus protocols. ==Student life==

The undergraduate student government of UC Davis is the Associated Students of UC Davis (ASUCD), and has an annual operating budget of $22.2 million, making it one of the largest-funded student governments in the United States. ASUCD includes an Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch. Other than representing the student body on campus, the task of ASUCD is to lobby student interests to local and state government. Also under the purview of ASUCD are the student-run Coffee House, an ASUCD unit, and Unitrans, the Davis public bus system. ASUCD employs thousands of students annually across its many units. Picnic Day, UC Davis's annual Open House, is the largest student-run event in the United States. It attracts thousands of visitors each year with its many attractions. These include a parade, a dance competition by the university club dance groups called "Dance Dance Revolution", a magic show performed by the chemistry department, the Doxie Derby (dachshund races), film screenings, and a Battle of the Bands between the UC Davis Marching Band and other college bands including the Cal Band, the Stanford Band, and the Humboldt State University Marching Lumberjacks. Another highlight of UC Davis is its student-run freeform radio station, KDVS. The station began operations on February 1, 1964, from the laundry room of the all-male dormitory Beckett Hall. The station soon gained a reputation by airing interviews with Angela Davis and a live call-in show with then California Governor Ronald Reagan in 1969. The station can now be heard on 90.3 FM and online at its website. UC Davis has over 800 registered student organizations, ranging from political clubs to professional societies to language clubs. The academic Graduate Students and management students are represented by the Graduate Student Association (GSA). The Law Students are represented by Law Students Association. Students also participate in intramural sports such as basketball, ultimate frisbee, soccer and many more. The ARC contains a basketball gym, work out room, ping pong tables, squash courts, rock climbing wall, and other studio rooms for group exercise. Other student activities and campus jobs: • Unitrans, the student run (and driven) bus system. • The Coffee House, also known as the CoHo, is a student run restaurant serving 7000 customers daily. • The Bike Barn, a bicycle shop that sells and rents bicycles and cycling equipment, also a full-service repair shop. • KDVS, student radio. • The Entertainment Council, responsible for bringing famous musicians to campus and organizing student events. Transportation in the city's student-run (and student-driven) bus system Bicyclists are ubiquitous on campus and in the city. Both the university and municipality encourages this with bicycle-only infrastructure such as bike circles, large bike lanes, and traffic signals specifically for bikes. UC Davis has a road and mountain bike team which has won several national championship titles. The campus police department also has some of its officers patrol on bicycles and take bicycling under the influence ("BUI") and bicycling without a headlight at night very seriously. Students usually have their bicycles serviced on-campus at the ASUCD Bike Barn or at other bike shops around town. Students who do not own bicycles can rent an electric bicycle or scooter from Spin, which can be found around campus near bike racks. UC Davis is also well known for its bus service, Unitrans, and its trademark London double decker buses. It has been in operation since 1968 and is believed to be the only general purpose (non-sightseeing) transit system in the U.S. to operate vintage double deck buses in daily service. The system is operated and managed entirely by students and offers fixed-route transportation throughout the city. Davis is also one of the busiest stations of the Capitol Corridor intercity railroad service operated by Amtrak between the Bay Area and Sacramento. The central campus is bounded by freeways on two sides (Highway 113 and Interstate 80). All other UC campuses are either somewhat distant from the closest freeway or are directly adjacent to only one freeway. Two freeway exits are entirely within UCD's boundaries. One, off Highway 113, is signed "UC Davis / Hutchison Drive" and the other, off Interstate 80, is signed exclusively as "UC Davis." Despite the university's extensive bicycle infrastructure and public transportation service, easy freeway access coupled with increasing housing costs in the city of Davis has led to increased numbers of students commuting via automobile. Some students choose to live in the neighboring communities of Sacramento, Dixon or Woodland, and use their own cars or the county-wide Yolobus to get to UC Davis. In addition, a private charter bus that connected the Davis and Sacramento campuses was replaced in 2020 by the Causeway Connection bus service, in partnership with Yolobus and Sacramento Regional Transit. Other students also commute by motorcycle, but are also subject to similar parking rates as their four-wheeled counterparts. There was a shuttle that ferried students between UC Davis and UC Berkeley that ran for decades. The service was discontinued in September 2025 due to rising costs and low ridership. The California Aggie UC Davis publishes a weekly student newspaper, The California Aggie. The Aggie was first published in 1915 as the Weekly Agricola after its approval by the Associated Student Executive Committee. At this point, UC Davis was considered the University Farm, an extension of UC Berkeley. Initially, the Weekly Agricola was focused on both student news and farming-related topics. Novelist Jack London was one of the first readers of the Weekly Agricola. In 1922, it was renamed to match the school's athletic name. Greek life Social fraternities and sororities have been a part of the University of California at Davis since 1913. Approximately 8% of the university's undergraduate students are involved in the school's fraternities and sororities. One sorority, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, was featured during the first season of the MTV reality show Sorority Life. There are currently 13 social fraternities that are a part of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) in Davis. There are currently 11 sororities that are a part of the Panhellenic Council. The Phi chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho was locally established May 1, 1923, at UC Davis, making it the first continuously running national fraternity on campus. They started as the Kappa Tau fraternity, which was the first agricultural fraternity on campus. Many campus buildings are named after alumni of Alpha Gamma Rho such as Emil Mrak (Mrak Hall, Registrar's office), Orville Thompson (Thompson Hall, Segundo student housing), and Dean De Carli (the De Carli room, 2nd floor MU), Mel Olson Scoreboard (Aggie Stadium), and many more. The AGR Hall is an event space located inside the Buehler Alumni / Visitor Center and is commonly rented out as a conference room or banquet hall. There are both national and local fraternities and sororities at UCD with diverse backgrounds and histories. ==Athletics==

The UC Davis Aggies (also referred to as Cal Aggies or Ags) compete in NCAA Division I sports league in the Big West Conference. For football, the Aggies compete in Division I FCS (formerly known as Division I-AA), and are members of the Big Sky Conference, granting UC Davis the distinction of being one of only three UC campuses to field a football team (Cal and UCLA being the other two). The Aggies are also members of the Big-12 in lacrosse, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in gymnastics, the America East Conference in field hockey, the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association and Davis Men's Crew Club for rowing. Starting July 1, 2026, the Aggies will become members of the Mountain West Conference. This will not include UC Davis Football which will remain part of the Big Sky Conference and will continue to compete in the FCS division. The UC Davis Men's Crew Club is one of the successful clubs both on campus and in the West. In 2008 the JV boat won first in nationals at the ACRA Championships in Tennessee and in 2009 the Varsity boat got second place in nationals at the ACRA Championships. They consistently compete against teams such as Stanford, the University of Washington and UC Berkeley. The Aggies finished first in NCAA Division II six times in 2003 and won the NACDA Directors' Cup 4 years in a row from 1999 to 2003. In 1998, the UC Davis men's basketball team won the NCAA Division II national championship despite being one of the few non-scholarship institutions in Division II at that time. They have also won NCAA Division II championships in Softball (2003), Men's Tennis (1992), and Women's Tennis (1990, 1993). These and other achievements motivated a decision (following a year of heavy discussion by campus administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni and the local community) in 2003 for the athletics program to re-classify to Division I. lines up against Stanford in 2014The Aggie football team plays Sacramento State in the annual Causeway Classic for the Causeway Carriage. The team also plays Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the annual Battle for the Golden Horseshoe. UC Davis students gather at sporting events to rally as the Aggie Pack, the largest student-run school spirit organization in the United States. The Aggie Pack cheers on the sports team along with the Spirit Squad to the music of the Cal Aggie Marching Band and its alumni band. Aggie Stadium is the home of the UC Davis football and lacrosse teams. Because of budget pressure, wrestling was cut from the athletic department in April 2010. Other cuts included men's swimming, men's indoor track, and women's rowing. The athletics department had to cut $1.79 million out of the budget. 14 women's teams and 9 men's teams were funded for the 2010–2011 school year. The official school colors are blue and gold. The blue is due to the UC's early connection to Yale and as a result is often referred to as "Yale Blue" (e.g., see). and UCD's official blue, usually called "Aggie Blue", is Pantone 295, which is distinct from Yale Blue (approximately Pantone 289). at the ARC Center The official school mascot is the mustang. ==Sustainability==

UC Davis has implemented many environmentally sustainable features on campus. In the Fall of 2010, UCD opened a renovated Dining Commons in the Cuarto living area. The dining hall uses local produce and promotes sustainability. The university operates twenty LEED-certified buildings across three of the five overarching LEED categories. Examples include the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, the first brewery, winery or food-processing facility in the world to achieve Platinum-level certification and the Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) at Lake Tahoe, one of only five laboratories in the world to achieve Platinum-level certification. It developed UC Davis West Village as a "zero net energy" community. The university received two Best Practice Awards at the 2009 annual Sustainability Conference, held by the University of California, California State University and the California Community Colleges, for the campus's lighting retrofit project and sustainable design in new construction. -certified buildings on campus UC Davis harvests olives from the old trees on campus to produce olive oil and table olives for use in campus dining rooms. It has designed landscaping with drought-tolerant trees and other plants. The draft design for the sustainable city in Dubai called for an "eco-village" on 120 acres with enough housing for 1,200 people. The plan called for K-12 education, apartments, single family homes, and retail shops. In May 2015, UC Davis and Diamond expanded the joint venture to include sustainability professional training program. UC Davis is also home to the Agricultural Sustainability Institute (ASI), which is part of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES). ASI provides leadership for research, teaching, outreach, and extension efforts in agricultural and food systems sustainability at the Davis campus and throughout the UC system. UC Davis hosted the Governors' Global Climate Summit 3 (GGCS3), an international climate forum for the top leaders of local, regional, national and international entities, as well as those from academia, business and nonprofits. The summit worked to broaden national partnerships in continuing to grow a clean, green economy. The summit included more than 1,500 attendees from more than 80 countries. ==Administration==

List of chancellors The following persons had led the UC Davis campus as chancellor since 1958: Table notes: == Alumni ==

UC Davis currently has over 260,000 living alumni. Notable alumni of UC Davis include two astronauts; scientist Charles Moen Rice, 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate and Katherine Jungjohann; US Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral; Chevron CEO John S. Watson; entrepreneur Jason Lucash; and actor Matthew Moy. Notable faculty include two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Alan Taylor and painter Wayne Thiebaud. File:Charles M. Rice.jpg|Charles M. Rice, 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate File:Anna Escobedo Cabral, official Treasury photo.jpg|Anna Escobedo Cabral, Treasurer File:TaniCantilSakauye.jpg|Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of California File:Ann Veneman.jpg|Ann Veneman, former United States Secretary of Agriculture File:DeAnne Julius - Chatham House Prize 2010 crop.jpg|DeAnne Julius, American-British economist File:Sir CK Chow.jpg|Sir Chow Chung-kong, chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing File:John S. Watson, June 2010.jpeg|John S. Watson, former CEO of Chevron File:Darrell Steinberg 2014 CADEM Convention.jpg|Darrell Steinberg, mayor of Sacramento File:London Breed.jpg|London Breed, former mayor of San Francisco File:Kate Tsui Tsz-shan.jpg|Kate Tsui, Hong Kong actress File:Hasan Minhaj on Neal Brennan uploaded James Tamim (cropped).png|Hasan Minhaj, actor and comedian File:DJ Shadow tim festival.jpg|DJ Shadow, music producer and DJ File:James brooks portrait 09 o.jpg|James F. Brooks, historian and professor File:Doug Girod (cropped).jpg|Doug Girod, chancellor of the University of Kansas File:Tracy Dyson portrait 2023.jpg|Tracy Caldwell Dyson, chemist and NASA astronaut File:Stephen Robinson NASA STS114.jpg|Stephen Robinson, NASA astronaut File:Daniel Descalso on June 29, 2011.jpg|Daniel Descalso, infielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks File:Colton Schmidt.JPG|Colton Schmidt, American football punter File:Urijah Faber 24 July 2009.jpg|Urijah Faber, mixed martial artist File:MartinYan-YanCanCook.jpg|Martin Yan, cooking show host and food writer File:Markus and McFeely at the 2018 Austin Film Festival.jpg|Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, screenwriters and producers File:Whitten Portrait Head wiki.jpg|Richard Whitten, visual artist File:Mike Pondsmith, Gamelab 2017 (35483365351) cropped.jpg|Mike Pondsmith, a story and videogame designer, who inspired the video game development of Cyberpunk 2077. ==See also==