2015 UC Davis Medal Recipient - Delaine Eastin

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• published: 16 Jun 2015
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The UC Davis Medal is the highest honor the campus bestows on individuals to recognize and celebrate extraordinary contributions that embody the campus’s Vision of Excellence. Recipients of the medal inspire and support the success and engagement of students, faculty, staff and alumni as they learn, experiment and achieve to their fullest individual and collective potential. Delaine Eastin was California State Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1995 to 2003 and is the only woman to have held the position. During her time in office, her accomplishments included advocating successfully for $2.5 billion in state funds to cut class size; launching the “Challenge Initiative” to raise standards and accountability; cutting administrative waste; increasing student access to technology and working with Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Foundation to start the “Garden in Every School” Initiative that resulted in gardens at 3,000 schools. Ms. Eastin earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from UC Davis in 1969 and went on to obtain a master’s degree in political science from UC Santa Barbara. Delaine has remained involved with the university, serving on the boards of UC Center Sacramento, the Cal Aggie Alumni Association and Center for Nutrition in Schools. In 2002 she received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the alumni association. She now lives in Davis and was the first member of her working-class family to attend college—an achievement she is passing on to others by establishing a UC Davis scholarship for a woman who is a first-generation college student.