University of California, Davis, Chancellor Gary S. May will host 13-plus years of UC presidential experience at his winter quarter Chancellor’s Colloquium, Thursday, Feb. 24, an in-person program, free and open to the public. Joining him will be Michael V. Drake, who is in his second year as president of the world-renowned UC system; President Emerita Janet S. Napolitano, who served from 2013 to 2020; and President Emeritus Mark G. Yudof, who served from 2008 to 2013.

The program, to be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, will include a conversation and question-and-answer session. See information below on tickets (how to get them), health protocols and parking. The program will not be livestreamed. 

Possible conversation topics include past, current and future initiatives focused on student access and affordability; how COVID-19 will change higher education over the long term; facilitating discussions and exchange of ideas on challenging topics while also ensuring that students feel welcomed and supported; and perspectives on the value of a college degree, particularly in this era of remote learning.

19th, 20th and 21st presidents

Drake, UC’s 21st president, took office in August 2020 after having served for six years as the president of Ohio State University and nine years before that as the chancellor of UC Irvine. An ophthalmologist, he spent more than two decades on the faculty of the UCSF School of Medicine and served as UC’s vice president for health affairs from 2000 to 2005.

Napolitano came to UC after serving as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2013, under President Barack Obama. During her time as secretary, she spearheaded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, initiative, creating hope and relief for thousands of undocumented young people across the nation.

She served as the governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009, as attorney general of Arizona from 1998 to 2003 and as the U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona from 1993 to 1997. Today she is a professor and director of the Center for Security in Politics at the Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley.

Yudof, before serving as UC president, was chancellor of the University of Texas system from August 2002 to May 2008, and president of the four-campus University of Minnesota from 1997 to 2002. Before that, he served as dean of the law school at the University of Texas at Austin from 1984 to 1994, and as the university’s executive vice president and provost from 1994 to 1997.

A renowned authority on constitutional law, freedom of expression and education law, Yudof is a professor of law emeritus at UC Berkeley.

How to attend

• Free admission, but you will need a ticket, available in advance and day of the event, from the Mondavi Center box office. Order advance tickets online, tickets.mondaviarts.org/7513, or by phone, 530-754-2787 or 866-754-2787 (toll-free).
• Non-UC Davis affiliates ages 12 and up must show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test. See complete COVID-19 protocols for non-UC Davis affiliates, and UC Davis and UC Davis health employees: tinyurl.com/3ts3d68p.
• Masks required indoors on the Davis campus.
• Best parking option for the general public: tinyurl.com/y6595ey2, $12 (payment kiosk located outside the northeast corner of the garage, across the street from the Mondavi Center). Parking information for UC Davis affiliates is available here: tinyurl.com/3ts3d68p.