California, University of, also known as UC, is a state-supported university system with 10 campuses. The 10 campuses are in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. The administrative offices of the University of California are in Oakland.
The University of California has numerous research centers and institutes. It operates, or helps operate, three laboratories for the United States government. They are the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California; the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California; and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. See the separate articles in World Book on these laboratories. The university also administers a continuing education program, a cooperative extension program, five medical centers, a natural reserve system, and a number of public service programs.
UC Berkeley is the oldest campus in the UC system. It is sometimes referred to as simply California or Cal. Its athletic teams are called the Golden Bears. The Los Angeles campus, commonly known as UCLA, is the largest UC campus. Its athletic teams are called the Bruins.
The University of California was chartered in 1868. It held its first classes in 1869 in Oakland and moved to Berkeley in 1873. The university system’s website at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu offers additional information.
