The University of California system began in 1868 at the campus of the College of California in Oakland. Four years later, upon completion of initial construction, the first university campus was established in Berkeley. The University has since expanded to include campuses throughout California, located in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. There are five medical schools operating within the nine campus structure of the University.

The University of California, Davis was established in 1906 as the University Farm with the acquisition of 778 acres. Its goal was to teach students proficiency in agricultural and animal management. Currently, with 5,200 acres, UC Davis ranks first in physical size of the nine campuses. It is also one of the nation's top 20 universities in research funding and has 24 undergraduate programs rated among the country's top 10, including the number one ranked botany department.

The Davis campus has an undergraduate college of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science. Undergraduate enrollment is close to 17,500 students. Graduate Studies administers graduate study and research at all schools and colleges. Professional studies are carried on at the schools of Law, Management, Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine. Approximately 5,400 students are engaged in graduate or professional study.

There are three libraries located on campus, the Physical Sciences Library, Shields Library - the main library, and the Health Sciences Library, which is located in the Medical Sciences I complex. The Health Sciences Library has over 130,000 volumes, as well as audiotape and microfilm materials and subscriptions to over 3,700 periodicals. A computer terminal gives access to MED-LINE, an on-line retrieval system for medical literature. A branch library is maintained at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, which houses over 5,004 volumes. Access is available to the entire University of California library system (MELVYL) and the National Biomedical Information Network (MEDLARS).