Each UC Berkeley class experiences some Cal history first-hand while they’re on campus. In honor of the Class of 2001’s twenty-year reunion, the Cal Alumni Association (CAA) took a look back at some of the major events that occurred during their time at UC Berkeley.
On July 1, 1997, Robert M. Berdahl became UC Berkeley’s eighth Chancellor.
During his tenure as Chancellor, Robert M. Berdahl oversaw an unprecedented rebuilding and seismic renovation of the campus, and helped the University Library regain its national preeminence. He also proposed creating a scholarship for first-generation, low-income students, which would eventually become CAA’s Achievement Award Program. Berdahl reorganized campus leadership to improve undergraduate education and to support the creation of new research efforts in health science, information technology, and quantitative biomedicine.
In 1998, UC Berkeley enlisted its 3,000th Peace Corps volunteer, more than any other university.
UC Berkeley graduates have been active in the Peace Corps since the program began in 1961. But 1998’s historic enlistment demonstrated that Cal students truly support the program’s commitment to the global community. As of 2020, Cal remains Peace Corps’ all-time top volunteer producer.
In the fall of 1999, the Walter A. Haas Jr. Pavilion was completed.
The Walter A. Haas Jr. Pavilion replaced the Harmon Gym and currently has 11,877 seats. In an attempt to keep Haas Pavilion as intimate as Harmon, designers built the arena with the last row of seats just 88 feet from the floor.
In the fall of 2000, Professor Daniel McFadden won the Nobel Prize in economics.
UC Berkeley economics professor Daniel McFadden’s econometric methods for studying behavioral patterns in individual decision-making earned him the Nobel Prize. Applications of McFadden’s statistical tools include predicting BART’s initial ridership and measuring the economic damage to individuals from an oil spill.
In November of 2000, UC Berkeley opened the Brain Imaging Center.
The Henry H. Wheeler Jr. Brain Imaging Center houses the largest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner in the United States devoted solely to basic research in neuroscience.
We hope you have enjoyed this blast from the past!
Please stay connected to your Cal alumni community and make a gift. Your gift to The CAA Fund supports all of our programs and will help a new generation of students succeed at Berkeley.
Posted on November 1, 2021 – 8:00am
