Governor Gray Davis, who founded QB3, CITRIS, CNSI, and CALIT2, donates oral history to UC Berkeley

By Julia Zumalt

On Monday, September 28, students, reporters, faculty, and colleagues of former California Governor Gray Davis gathered at UC Berkeley’s Sutardja Dai Hall to celebrate a milestone: Davis’s oral history being added to the Bancroft Library. 

In 2000, Davis founded QB3, CITRIS, CNSI, and CALIT2, now known as the Governor Gray Davis Institutes for Science and Innovation (ISIs).

His oral history offers a valuable window into the past, the recording of which was no small feat — the physical text comes in at 931 pages! Despite his impressive political legacy, the atmosphere was warm and vibrant, with Davis regularly pointing out longtime supporters in the audience between quips and personal stories.

Opening statements described Davis as “our governor” here at UC Berkeley, and it’s easy to see why. He is well known for championing science and technology across the University of California system. While reflecting on the value of these programs with journalist Carla Marinucci, Davis was backlit by a photo of himself and Professor Omar Yaghi taken just after Yaghi received the Nobel Prize. Davis proudly shared his belief that the ISIs created California’s culture of driving science innovation and led to the state’s striking track record for winning Nobel Prizes. 

Davis was described in the event as “always wanting to be in a position of imparting knowledge.” Here at QB3, we are thankful for Davis’s contributions to our institute. Without him, we wouldn’t be able to share knowledge the way we do today.