Celebrating 60 Years of the College of Letters and Sciences

This year the College of Letters and Sciences is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Here’s an excerpt about the beginnings of the College from Abundant Harvest: the History of the University of California, Davis:

“In May 1951, the new college was formally organized. More than 50 faculty members were drawn from service divisions in the College of Agriculture to become founding members of Letters and Science departments. In 1951 Herbert A. Young was named the founding dean of the new college.

Because of slightly reduced campus enrollments in 1951 and concern over the Korean War, 1951 was a transitional year. The decision was made to offer initially just five majors in the fields already well represented on campus: Botany, Chemistry, Zoology, English, and History, along with courses equivalent to the first three years of majors in Mathematics and Physics. No new faculty were hired that year, for, out of a total 1,562 students enrolled that fall, only 76 were declared L&S majors. In 1952, after a concerted effort to publicize the expanded academic programs, growth of the college began in earnest with the appointment of several new faculty.”

Today, the College of Letters and Sciences is comprised of three divisions: the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies, Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and the Division of Social Sciences. There are 667 faculty in the college, 48 major programs, 10,376 student majors, and 1,347 graduate students.

Congratulations to the College of Letters and Sciences on their 60th Anniversary!

Anthropology Department, during 1966, anthropology students at Davis have been probing the remnants of Sacramento’s historic waterfront community in a program uniting public service with practical experience. In addition to laboratory instruction during the fall and spring in archaeological methods, a number of UCD students worked last summer (1966) for the State Division of Beaches and Parks, uncovering artifacts and useful data for a museum, 1966