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The Department of Applied Science at the University of California, Davis was a cooperative academic program involving the
University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...
and the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now i ...
(LLNL). It was established in the fall of 1963 by
Edward Teller Edward Teller (; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian and American Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist and chemical engineer who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" and one of the creators of ...
, director of LLNL, and Roy Bainer, then dean of the UC Davis College of Engineering. The department was discontinued in 2011.


History

Teller's push for an educational institution associated with the LLNL was part of a general movement championed by Alvin M. Weinberg of
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...
to use the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories to educate scientists, since at the time the department employed roughly 10% of the scientists in the United States. Teller first approached the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
with his idea, but the faculty there opposed the idea because of the military focus of the program and the administration wasn't receptive. So he turned, reluctantly, to UC Davis instead. There Bainer and Emil M. Mrak, then
chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
of UCD, were more receptive to Teller's plan, although some faculty of the College of Engineering were unhappy with the idea of outsiders teaching their students. Nicknamed "Teller Tech," the department was established in 1963 by Edward Teller on the grounds of the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now i ...
(LLNL). It was the first graduate education program associated with one of the national laboratories. At the dedication of the new program, then president of the University of California,
Clark Kerr Clark Kerr (May 17, 1911 – December 1, 2003) was an American economist and academic administrator. He was the first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and twelfth president of the University of California. Early life and ...
, said that the school's "imaginative new curriculum" would allow the department to "build in a short time and at small cost a highly advanced training program of great significance to modern society." The lab at first shared the facilities at Lawrence Livermore, although the students conducted non-classified research. Teller intended the DAS to educate advanced students in nuclear physics and other subjects applicable to defense industries. The Atomic Energy Commission, which administered LLNL, was worried about allowing DAS to use its facilities if foreign students would be enrolled. To meet this objection Teller agreed to limit the number of foreign students attending and to require prospective students to undergo
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
background checks. Later, the lab was administered by the University of California for the Department of Energy and students were allowed to participate in classified, as well as unclassified projects. As part of the admissions process students were required to fill out a PSQ so that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) could do a background check on them. Once their clearance was granted they were allowed to participate in classified research. Students were required to have US Citizenship to participate. Country of origin wasn't an issue. Teller, who had been director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory beginning in 1958, was named the first chairman of the Department of Applied Science. Its main location, built in 1976, was on the grounds of the LLNL in a building paid for with a matching grant of $1 million from the
Hertz Foundation The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation is an American non-profit organization that awards fellowships to Ph.D. students in the applied physical, biological and engineering sciences. The fellowship begins with up to $250,000 of financial support ...
and thus called Hertz Hall. The Department of Applied Science later became more centered at the UC Davis campus. Many of the department's faculty had joint appointments with LLNL or other national laboratories, so that students in the department had access to facilities in both locations. The UC Davis College of Engineering closed the Department of Applied Science in July 2011 for budgetary reasons after 48 years of operation.


Notable faculty

*
Berni Alder Berni Julian Alder (September 9, 1925 – September 7, 2020) was a German-born American physicist specialized in statistical mechanics, and a pioneer of computational modelling of matter. Biography Alder was born in Duisburg, Prussia, in Septem ...
- cofounder with Teller and
National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...
winner. *
Edward Teller Edward Teller (; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian and American Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist and chemical engineer who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" and one of the creators of ...


References

{{authority control Nuclear research institutes University of California, Davis 1963 establishments in California