1951
The College of Letters and Science is formally established with five departments offering bachelor’s degrees: Botany, Chemistry, Zoology, English and History. L&S also offers courses equivalent to the first three years of majors in Mathematics and Physics. Out of a total 1,562 students enrolled campus-wide that fall, 76 were declared L&S majors. Herbert A. Young, chair of the Department of Chemistry, is named the founding dean of the new college.
Art at UC Davis begins as the Department of Philosophy and Fine Arts, founded by Richard Nelson (Art), Jerome Rosen (Music) and Arthur Child (Philosophy).
The Chemistry Department is accredited by the American Chemical Society.
1952
Celeste Turner Wright, the first chair of the English Department, establishes the Department of Theatre. The current theatre building is named in her honor.
The History Department and Physics Department are established.
Sociology offers its first two courses to 43 students.
1954
David Olmsted, the first anthropologist at UC Davis, Begins teaching courses in physical anthropology, ethnology, American Indians, language and culture and the peoples of Africa.
1956
The Economics Department is established.
Campus receives authorization for the Ph.D. in Chemistry from the UC Regents.
1958
Departments of Art, Music, Philosophy and Sociology are established.
1959
The UC Regents designate UC Davis as a general campus of the University of California. The first brochure for Letters and Science in 1959 offers 25 major fields of study across the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Physical Sciences, the Biological Sciences and Preprofessional studies.
The Department of Geology is formally established.
In 1959, the Department of Sociology is formally established and headed by Edwin M. Lemert, an expert in deviance and criminology.
Three rooms in TB 9 are allocated for the art department as teaching labs for sculpture classes. The building would become famous for its role in art history that continues to evolve today. In 2016, TB 9 would be nationally recognized for its importance in art history with its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources.
1960
The Political Science Department established.
The first Russian classes are offered.
1961
The Dramatic Art and Speech Department is established.
1962
The Institute for Governmental Affairs is established.
The study of philosophy at UC Davis begins with 31 students looking at the major philosophy figures of the past.
1963
The Wyatt Pavilion, originally a cattle-judging pavilion, is converted into an Elizabethan-style indoor thrust stage in 1963.
1964
Letters and Science has 3,000 students, 23 major programs and 275 faculty.
Lawrence J. Andrews is appointed as Dean of Letters and Science and would serve until 1985. The Andrews Conference Room in the Social Sciences and Humanities Building was named in his honor.
The Anthropology Department and the Fine Arts & Museology Laboratory are established.
The first Chinese classes are offered.
1965
The Crocker Nuclear Laboratory is established, as are the Departments of French and Italian, German & Russian and Spanish & Classics.
James "Jerry" Murphy is named the first chair of the Speech Department, the predecessor of today’s Department of Communication. Murphy, who had spent time teaching at Stanford and Princeton, was a French Chevalier, an honor granted for his contributions to medieval rhetoric in French. Murphy would later serve as a UC Davis vice-chancellor.
1966
By 1966, Letters and Science has grown approximately 30% compounded annually. The college faculty begin planning new buildings, new courses and sections of new courses.
Letters and Science departments are organized under three main divisions: Humanities and Fine Arts, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The Biological Sciences, which would later become the independent College of Biological Sciences, was part of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
A proposal this year suggests offering interdisciplinary courses that introduce students to broad fields of knowledge covering more than one discipline.
Construction of Wright Hall is completed. The Main Theater would host its first production Amphitryon 38 in February of 1967.
The Department of Rhetoric is created in place of the Speech Department with an entirely new curriculum. It is the first Department of Rhetoric in the UC system. That department eventually became Rhetoric and Communication, then the Department of Communication.