Greater Together A History of the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis
The College of Letters and Science was established in 1951 even before UC Davis became a dedicated campus of the University of California system in eight years later. Letters and Science departments and programs are among the oldest on campus, reaching back nearly to its beginnings as the University Farm. The college has always served as a critical point of connection across a dynamic and comprehensive university like UC Davis.
The College of Letters and Science was formed in 1951 under the leadership of founding dean Lawrence Andrews. That year, the college enrolled its first 74 students across just five departments: Botany, Chemistry, Zoology, English, and History. In the decades that followed, the college experienced extraordinary growth due to the population explosion, the challenge of space exploration and the rapidly expanding global economy.
By 2001, fifty years after its founding, L&S had evolved to 52 departments and programs serving over 10,000 students. Today, Letters and Science continues on this trajectory of growth and excellence, enrolling over 14,000 undergraduate majors across 110 majors and minors led by more than 900 faculty and 350 staff.
Letters and Science was initially led by a single dean until 1994 when a UC Davis committee recommended dividing the college into three divisions to be led by their own deans who shared overall administration. In the early 2010s, that decision was revisited and in 2015 UC Davis recommended returning Letters and Science to leadership under a single dean and associate deans to oversee the three historical divisions.
Letters and Science continues to solidify its unity and interconnection across departments and across UC Davis through its interdisciplinary research initiatives, collaborations and academic programs. This foundation of interconnectedness grew naturally from the campus’ agricultural roots when faculty were encouraged to collaborate broadly to enhance the potential for their research.
Letters and Science builds on its legacy at UC Davis with a unique combination of diversity and unity that creates limitless opportunities for teaching, research and impact worldwide.
