Davis: Administrative Officers

Chief Campus Officers

The Davis campus began operations under the dean of the College of Agriculture at Berkeley. Indicative of broadened educational objectives and increasing delegation of authority to chief campus officers, the title at Davis was changed from director to provost in 1952, then to chancellor in 1958. source

Stanley Barron Freeborn, 1958-59
Stanley Barron Freeborn served as the first chief campus officer at Davis. He was born in Hudson, Massachusetts, on December 11, 1891. He earned his B.S. degree in 1914, his Ph.D. in 1924, from Massachusetts Agricultural College. Freeborn's entire professional life, except for periods during the two world wars, was spent at the University. He joined the faculty at Berkeley as an instructor in entomology in 1914.

In 1932, he became professor and entomologist. Freeborn was chairman of the Division of Entomology at Davis from 1924 to 1935, then became assistant to the dean of the College of Agriculture at Berkeley. Two years later, he was appointed assistant dean of the College of Agriculture and assistant director of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Berkeley. In 1952, he was named first provost at Davis and in 1958, was named chancellor. Following his retirement in 1959, Freeborn was a part-time academic assistant to President Kerr and worked on a study section of the National Institutes of Health until his death (July 17, 1960). source

Emil Marcel Mrak, 1959-69
Emil Marcel Mrak began his term as chancellor of Davis on July 1, 1959. He was born in San Francisco on November 27, 1901 and raised in the Santa Clara valley. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University (Berkeley) and became an instructor in technology on the Berkeley campus in 1936, the year he received his doctorate. Mrak served as a civilian scientist with the U.S. Army during 1944 and 1945. He then returned to Berkeley, where in 1948, he was appointed full professor and chairman of the Department of Food Science and Technology. In 1951, he and most of the departmental staff moved into a new building on the Davis campus. He continued to serve as department chairman until his appointment as chancellor in 1959, a position he held for ten years. source

James H. Meyer, 1969-87
Born in Fenn, Idaho, in 1922, James Henry Meyer enrolled in agricultural sciences at the University of Idaho. Following three years as a Marine Corps lieutenant, he returned to Idaho and graduated in 1947. He earned his master's and doctorate degrees in nutrition at the University of Wisconsin. He came to UCD in 1951, where he was chairman of the animal science department from 1960 to 1963, and dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental sciences from 1963 to 1969. He was named chancellor at Davis in May, 1969. source

Theodore L. Hullar, 1987-94
Theodore L. Hullar served from 1979 to 1984 at Cornell University, where he was director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, director of research for the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and professor of Natural Resources. He moved to Riverside in 1984 when he was selected by Chancellor Rivera as executive vice chancellor. He was chosen to succeed Rivera as chancellor a year after Rivera's death in May, 1984. In 1987, he was reassigned to Davis, where he served until 1994. He is now the director of the Center for the Environment at Cornell University. source

Larry N. Vanderhoef, 1994-
Larry N. Vanderhoef was born in 1941 in northwestern Minnesota. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in biology from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and received his Ph.D. in plant biochemistry from Purdue University. In 1970, he was appointed assistant professor of biology at the University of Illinois. He became professor and head of his department in 1977. In 1980, he moved to Maryland where he became provost of the University of Maryland, College Park. Four years later, he was hired as the Executive Vice Chancellor of the UC Davis campus. On April 6, 1994, he became the fifth Chancellor of UC Davis. source