We Turn 20

Wayne Thiebaud’s Celebration Cakes, painted in honor of the university’s 125th anniversary, graced the magazine’s fall 1992 cover.

Launched in 1983 to help celebrate the campus’s 75th anniversary, UC Davis Magazine was the product of four years of planning. The goal: “a vital, graphically appealing and intellectually stimulating publication” that would keep alumni and parents informed about the campus, its people and programs. That first issue in summer 1983 took a look at students of the ’80s (finding them diligent, competitive, more interested in science than the humanities and less inclined to question authority than their counterparts were in the ’60s and ’70s). It included a commentary on genetic engineering and introduced a history of the campus that continued in the next four issues.

Over the following 80 issues, topics have been as diverse as the campus itself: the art of brewing, obesity, Third-World hunger, toxic waste, campus growth, chocolate, genius, love and flower breeding, to name a few. We’ve tackled such controversies as political correctness, affirmative action, student drinking, animals in medical research and university conflicts of interest.

As a member of the magazine’s staff since its fourth issue, I’ve watched with pride as it has evolved and matured over two decades. Its circulation has increased 11-fold from 15,000 to 165,000, and its page count has gone from 32 to 52. Full color is on every page, and an online version of the magazine is on the Web. But some important things have remained the same, including our mission to keep you informed about the Davis campus, to keep you connected and to keep you entertained. Thanks for reading.