The Department of Entomology at UC Davis began as an offshoot of the
Department of Entomology and Parasitology at UC Berkeley. Entomology at
Davis was closely entwined with the department at Berkeley for more than
50 years before it separated and became autonomous. Much of this early
record is fascinating and it demonstrates how Entomology has always been
an integral part of teaching, research and extension on the Davis
campus—in effect the department and the campus came of age together.
The very first record of Entomology being taught at Davis occurred
when Professor C. W. Woodworth (from UC Berkeley) spoke to the State
Farmer's Institute on October 30, 1907 at Davisville on the
"Whitefly Situation in California". This was a forerunner to
the Farmer's Short Courses (three to six week courses) which began in
the fall of 1908. Professor Woodworth was in charge of the lectures in
Entomology assisted by Earl L. Morris, W. H. Volck, and J. S.
Hunger—all these individuals commuted into Davis. General lectures on
Introductory Entomology, Horticultural Pests, and Pest Control, were
given regularly between 1908-1912. In 1912 and 1914 H. J. Quayle also
contributed special lectures on crop pests and their control.
A two-year non-degree program was established in Entomology at Davis
in 1913. L. J. Nichols was one of the instructors who taught general
entomology courses and beekeeping from 1913-1915. During the period
1915-1920, A. Coleman was listed as a staff member in Entomology and E.
R. deOng taught many of the general entomology courses (listed as
Entomology 01, 01A, 02, 03, and 04). G. H. Vansell helped with the
instruction of these courses beginning in 1920 and in 1922 he became the
first instructor to establish residence in Davis. This marked a turning
point for Entomology at UC Davis and reflected the growing popularity
and importance of teaching in the discipline.
The first degree in Entomology offered at Davis was in 1923-24 at
which time S. B. Freeborn (the namesake of Freeborn Hall) was
transferred from Berkeley to Davis to head up this new and expanding
program. At this time a course was also offered in Veterinary
Parasitology—a major interest of Professor Freeborn.
During the period 1928-1932, E. O. Essig commuted from Berkeley once
a week during the fall to lecture in the course Economic Entomology. He
was assisted by H. F. Wymore, who also taught the two-year (non-degree)
courses during 1928-34. This non-degree program reached a peak
enrollment of 169 students in 1946. In 1929, the first graduate student
assistantship was established and was held by S. F. Bailey. Professor
Bailey would later become Chair of the Department.
During the period 1928-1942, the Department grew very slowly. In
1933, Professor Freeborn moved to UC Berkeley and became Assistant Dean.
M. A. Stewart replaced Freeborn, but was also transferred to Berkeley
(in 1939) and became Dean of the Graduate Division at UC Berkeley in
1956. J. E. Eckert assumed the title of 'Local Chairman'—this was the
title of the administrator of the Department up to 1953 when the
official title of Vice-Chairman, Berkeley-Davis was established. During
the early part of World War II, the Vice-Chairman was the only faculty
member in residence. Between 1943-1945, the department grew
substantially with the permanent transfer of L. M. Smith, E. M.
Stafford, and W. H. Lange from field stations to Davis. After the war,
S. F. Bailey became Vice-Chair. This time period saw tremendous growth
in the department, in part because of the return of many World War II
"GI" students. Over the next 15 years many milestones were
achieved including the establishment of a separate entomology curriculum
in 1950 when full instruction was offered leading to the BS, MS, and
Ph.D. degrees. The first Ph.D. in Entomology at Davis was conferred in
1962.
As the Davis campus began to declare it administrative independence
from Berkeley under Provost Freeborn (later Chancellor) in 1952, the
Department of Entomology began to assert its independence from
Entomology at Berkeley. R. M. Bohart became Vice-Chairman in 1957 and
the following year the system of rotating chairs in the College of
Agriculture was instituted. In the spring of 1960, Entomology moved into
new quarters in Robbins Hall—ending many years of transience and
hopeful planning.
In 1962, when Entomology at Berkeley reorganized into four major
divisions: Entomology, Insect Pathology, Biological Control and
Parasitology (which included the former Department of Biological
Control), the Davis Entomologists were made a 'section' of this new
department, headed at Berkeley. However, at this time Entomology was
functioning smoothly and was fully integrated with the Davis campus. On
July 1, 1963, the Department of Entomology at Davis was officially
created breaking all administrative ties with the Berkeley-Davis
department.
Research and teaching activities have grown steadily since 1946 when
there were seven academic and five non-academic staff. For example in
1956 and 1963, there were 12 and 21 academic and seven and 28
non-academic staff, respectively. Today(1997)we have 28 academic faculty
and 40 academic staff. Over the same period of time, graduate student
numbers have been 3, 20, 39 and 55. Today we also serve as the home
department for an additional 17 graduate students from other graduate
groups on campus and we administer the Plant Protection and Pest
Management Graduate Group with another ten students. Undergraduate
enrollment in the Entomology major has fluctuated over the years with no
students in 1946, 14 in 1956, 21 in 1963, and 11 in 1996. Agricultural
Extension personnel officially joined the department in 1960 which
greatly strengthened the department. Today we have four faculty members
with all or part of their appointments in extension.
Course offerings were enlarged dramatically in 1963 and curriculum
emphasis shifted from Agricultural Entomology to a more fundamental
biological approach underlying ecology and physiology to match
increasing sophistication in the entomological profession. In the 1990's
we have continued to evolve and the strength of Entomology at UC Davis
is our broad and numerous contributions to the Davis campus in both
teaching and research. Not only do we teach our entomology specific
courses for a limited audience, but more importantly through our General
Education and upper division courses and our participation in Biological
Science 1B, the Department of Entomology garners more student contact
hours than most departments in the College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences. Ever increasing enrollments in a diversity of
courses attests to the quality and pertinence of our course offerings.
Research in the Department of Entomology spans the full gamut from
basic to applied and molecular to ecological. The diversity and number
of extramural grants derives from an aggressive and multi-faceted
faculty working on a wealth of fundamental and applied problems. The
broad interests of the faculty also drive our imaginative teaching
program. In fact, few, if any, Departments of Entomology in the nation
boast the range and extent of teaching, the diversity of faculty
expertise (which leads to an ideal blending of basic and applied
research/teaching) and the level of grant support of our department.
