May 30, 2023 • 20 mins
UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May talks with Bob Segar, assistant vice chancellor of campus planning and environmental stewardship, who is retiring after 34 years of service to UC Davis. Bob's work changed the campus landscape, most notably with the addition of the Gateway District that welcomes visitors to campus. In addition to the Davis campus, Bob's vision extended to the Sacramento campus where he was instrumental in helping plan the Aggie Square project.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to “Face to Face,” a UC Davis podcast
featuring students, staff and faculty innovators.
I’m your host, Chancellor Gary May.
Stay tuned for my next guest.
Bob's work is transformational
in sort of every aspect of that
(00:23):
word. His
job title doesn't come close
to explaining what
Bob has done during his career.
I think his biggest accomplishment
was what he often referred to
as the new campus front door —
so the Mondavi Center, the art
museum, the Robert Mondavi
Institute for Wine and Food Science.
(00:43):
I mean, that was a surface parking
lot with human resources trailers
that was transformed into a
way — using his words — to welcome
people that often don't have a place
here, people that may not be
studying here but can visit the
university.
I'll always remember the grand
opening for the Mondavi
Center. There was a moment where I
(01:04):
just saw the building alive, as Bob
has described it.
There were people on all three
levels. And really
that whole Mondavi Center, I think
Bob really was instrumental.
And now he's done something terrific
in terms of a vision for Aggie
Square.
Bob was one of the early supporters
of the Aggie Square concept.
I think he saw — as a planner — he
(01:24):
saw the great possibilities we had
with the space that we were going to
try to invigorate.
The best part of our experience
was when the pandemic started, and
we were sort of questioning how we
would go forward, if we would go
forward, if we would slow things
down.
And Bob and I agreed that the best
thing to do was to plow straight
ahead. And that was the right
decision, because it's worked out
wonderfully.
(01:45):
Most people aspire to leave a place
better off due to their works.
But I mean, Bob has
done that in volumes.
Bob Segar, welcome to "Face to
Face." Thanks for being here.
Oh, that wasn't fair.
I didn't know that was
going to happen.
Got a couple of tears or anything
like that?
Yeah, you got me.
(02:06):
You got me.
Well, we're glad to have you here
today.
And congrats on the upcoming
retirement.
It's been an honor to work with you
for the six years that I've been
here. But, you know, the campus has
enjoyed your services for 25
or more years, as I understand it.
So thanks for everything you've done
for UC Davis.
Yeah, thank you too, Gary.
It's been — my
(02:26):
main feeling right now is I just
feel fortunate. I just feel so
fortunate to have found UC Davis.
It was a match for me.
And I got to bring my best
A-game, and
it was appreciated.
And I appreciate everything you've
done to support me and give me
opportunities to lead.
Well, we've been fortunate, too,
that's for sure.
(02:46):
Bob, when did you decide you wanted
to be an urban designer?
Was that something early in your
life or something happened in your
career where you made that decision?
Yeah. Thanks.
I went to — I was an
undergrad at Stanford and
didn't quite find my
perfect major there.
But I actually made up a major, and
it was it was called urban studies.
(03:07):
And I was looking for what I might
do in graduate
school. And I actually discovered
Frederick Law Olmsted.
And Frederick Law Olmsted
was the designer of Central Park.
And he actually, it turns out, was
the designer of Stanford University
and, you know, amazing
parks and open spaces — and
even worked in Yosemite.
(03:27):
And I saw that there was this
profession, landscape
architecture/environmental design
where people created,
designed the world, designed
the environments that we live in —
everything from natural environments
to urban environments.
And that was it.
So I went to graduate school to
University of Michigan in landscape
architecture/environmental design.
(03:48):
So how did you get from Stanford to
Michigan to UC Davis?
So first job out of Michigan
was in
San Francisco.
Michigan was in — I grew up in the
Midwest, came to college at
Stanford, went back to the Midwest,
to Ann Arbor for graduate school,
and probably would have stayed
there. But it was early
(04:09):
'80s.
There were not many jobs
happening in the Midwest at that
point. And a friend from
school had gotten a job in
San Francisco.
And they were hiring like crazy.
So Jennifer
and I packed up this little tiny
Toyota and drove across the country.
And we both started working in San
Francisco at a big architecture
and land-planning firm called HOK.
(04:30):
HOK actually — in
the office when I first worked
at HOK was Meyer Hall
on UC Davis campus.
They were designing that building,
and since then, HOK designed
the Vet Med 3 building.
So that
was my first job.
When I was at HOK,
a job came up on the Berkeley
campus.
(04:50):
And I got to be a project manager
for that job, and I realized how
much I really loved working
on a college campus.
College campuses are the only
environments really in our
kind of contemporary landscape,
Gary, where cars are all pushed
out to the edge, and
it's just about designing places for
(05:10):
people.
And it's also
designing places for people and
students, in particular, where,
you know, at a particularly
impactful part of their lives, where
the environment matters.
And so I worked on that job,
and then I got a job at Stanford
in their campus planning office for
a couple of years. And then
UC Davis came up, and
(05:31):
I've been here ever since.
So that early Meyer Hall
exposure was kind of — it was meant
to be? Right?
Here you are.
That's right.
That's right. That was my glimpse at
UC Davis.
So you touched on this a minute ago,
but you're
trained in urban design, but you've
been on a college campus for much of
your career.
Other than moving the cars out, what
(05:53):
do you think is different between
being on a college campus and doing
the planning here versus being, you
know, in a city?
Yeah, I mean, one thing is,
you know, it's our environment
to control, really.
So, you know, I'm in a professional
capacity working for
you and others to make
this campus everything it can be for
(06:13):
our community — so for students,
for faculty to do their work, for
staff to do their work, and for the
many, many visitors that come.
And, you know, I'm looked to for my
expertise to
provide the guidance
to you and others about how to shape
this place.
And that's a really, really unusual
opportunity. I mean, if you work for
(06:33):
a city, you know, in the city
planning office, there are lots of
folks, and they're facilitating, you
know, community input about the
whole thing.
But when you work on a campus, you
really look to be the person
that gives guidance
to shape the place.
I want to talk about the campus
front door.
I have to tell you, when LeShelle
and I came here and we saw the
(06:54):
museum and the Mondavi Center and
the Mondavi Institute and,
you know, that Welcome Center
and everything in that part of
campus, it really did a lot to
sell us on coming to Davis.
Tell us about how that evolved in
your mind and how it actually got
realized.
Yeah. So that was a pretty amazing
opportunity over a period of over
(07:14):
20 years.
When I started working — and I
remember taking you and LeShelle
around on a tour where we got
to see that. That was the first time
we met, which was really fun.
Yeah, it used to be
when you drove by UC Davis,
all you saw was the
water tower.
And you saw a row of trees, which
was the Arboretum.
(07:36):
And, you know, there was a sign,
so you figured UC Davis was back
there somewhere.
But we didn't really have a presence
for the public.
And the very first project I worked
on when I came to the
university was the Buehler Alumni
and Visitors Center.
And we decided literally to
bring that building out from behind
the trees and face it towards
(07:56):
the freeway. We did a master plan
for what became that whole Gateway
District, that whole front door.
And people asked me for years, why
did you face that building the wrong
way?
Because the campus is over there.
And we said, because we want people
to know we're here.
And we want to roll out the red
carpet for all
the people who come here for the
first time, either
(08:17):
looking at the place to be a
student, or as a visitor,
or to experience, to connect with
somebody at the university.
And so from there,
the next big move was the Mondavi
Center
and the parking structure that went
with it.
And oh, so many
stories about that.
But I just remember having an
opportunity to take Robert and
Margrit Mondavi — we took them to
(08:39):
the top of the parking structure.
And the Mondavi Center, the steel
was going up, and Robert Mondavi
just kept saying, "I had no idea
that this university was doing this,
in this place, at this scale."
And he threw his support
to the project.
But the commonality of all of it,
Gary, was
putting really high
(09:00):
public impact, high
public access
programs at the front door
of the university. So people had a
reason to pull off that freeway
and come explore us and have
a great experience.
So there was the Mondavi Center,
Graduate School of Management,
Mondavi Institute for food and wine,
and then finally the Manetti Shrem
(09:21):
Museum. And all of them, you know,
are places that, really, people are
interested in coming and exploring
and connecting with.
And that can only,
you know — we're down to the benefit
of the university.
Either, you know, people get to know
us and realize the amazing
things that go on here.
They're going to support us, one way
or the other. And that's really what
it was all about.
Yeah, agreed.
And the museum, I think I have this
(09:42):
right, was named one of the
top 25 museums — not
just museums at universities —
but top 25 museums in the past
100 years.
That's got to be mind-blowing. ... It was. ...
Right. ...
It was.
It was extraordinary.
And, you know, it's
interesting because the architect,
Florian Idenburg, actually
grew up in the Netherlands, and
(10:05):
he did his research when he was
interviewing for the building.
And he found this poster
from the early 1900s
where you could come explore, go up
the Sacramento Delta on what was
called the Netherlands Route.
You could take a boat up the Delta.
And he actually connected
with the kind of physicality
and the territory
(10:26):
that we're in from where he grew up
in the Netherlands. And he just
nailed — he got it right.
He just had such an understanding
of our place and
the building. The building shows
that. I agree.
It really does differentiate
us from other places.
Now, you and I have been working
together on Aggie Square for the
last five years or so.
(10:46):
In the intro, we talked about our
conversation right when the pandemic
started about what do we do.
But even before that, you know, I
just had an idea.
I didn't really have
a vision that was
on paper.
But you and
others — there's a team — but you
made that idea turn into what
now is, you know, a couple of
(11:07):
buildings going up.
And we just had a topping-off
ceremony this week
for the first two buildings.
So talk about that a little bit
and how that has evolved.
Yeah. So, you know, you had
the idea. I remember a meeting
where we were getting briefed by
some folks on the Sacramento campus
(11:27):
about some early planning that they
were doing for what became
Aggie Square. And they were
realizing they should be thinking
about expanding their research
enterprise. And
you saw it, and I remember
the day where you were saying, can
we call that — let's call that Aggie
Square.
And I think you were doing your scan
(11:49):
for, you know, is
there a UC Davis appropriate
version of what you experienced in
Atlanta, right, where the university
becomes this generator of
ideas and investment and community
benefit.
And so I looked at the
planning they were already doing in
Sacramento.
And honestly, what we were just
talking about, Gary, the front door
to UC Davis, the Davis campus,
(12:10):
was part of what drove my
thinking about this opportunity for
the Sacramento campus in Sacramento.
It's a completely different
context, completely different
neighborhoods, you know, big, big
city.
But it's —
our Sacramento campus is this
opportunity to do what we did in
Davis, to really kind
of crack that campus open for the
public and roll out the red
(12:32):
carpet. So, you know,
we want — so we designed
the Aggie Square to be that
welcoming public
access point to the UC
Davis Sacramento campus.
It will succeed
if people in our community feel
like they can just walk on and
explore, because there
might be something there for them.
(12:55):
And right now it just doesn't feel
like that. It's, you know, it's
extraordinary enterprise, but it's
big hospital buildings, big parking
structures. You go there if you need
medical care.
Aggie Square is about going there as
a community member or an industry
partner or a school kid
and exploring the university and
seeing what it can do for you.
And so we — that influenced
(13:16):
the design of the place.
... Yeah. ... Making sure we're open
and have big public spaces and
different buildings doing different
things surrounding it.
So all kinds of different people who
come for different reasons run into
each other.
So really those goals about
people feeling welcome and people
finding one another
drove the design.
(13:36):
Is there anything about the project
that gets you especially
excited or
a favorite building or a favorite
part of the entire
project?
Yeah, I have to say,
you know, when you first kind of
branded it Aggie Square, it was
an idea for kind
(13:57):
of this innovation district that
would have all these different
moving parts.
But I think the thing I'm most
excited about is that Aggie Square
transitioned from becoming an idea
to actually becoming a physical
place.
And so we have this public plaza
right at the heart of Aggie Square
that is surrounded — every single
building in the project
(14:18):
has a front door that empties
out onto this Aggie Square plaza.
And there'll be events, and there'll
be, again, people running into
people from different walks of life
that they never would have met.
And that's how innovation happens.
So, yeah, so being that landscape
architect, kind of urban designer
instead of an architect, to me it's
the public places that
(14:39):
really create the life of the
community. And it just — so
the exercise is what do you surround
those public places with so they
come to life, and again, people
connect with each other.
Yeah, and
same question, bigger scope:
When you look at your whole career
here at UC Davis, 25
years, is there a moment or
(15:00):
a project that stands out to
you or something you're particularly
proud of?
Well,
gosh, there's so much.
I've been thinking —
I really — I
have a story every place I go on
the campus, either story of
something that we made happen
and changed, or something we just
(15:20):
preserved and, you
know, a treasure that people went
there for the ages that
we were able to preserve.
But, I mean, you know, I have my
Mondavi Center moment
that I've shared with you,
where
my daughter Andrea got to
(15:41):
be the first solo performer
in that building when it opened.
And you know, that just,
still, I mean — I can't tell the
story without, just, my heart
pounding, because it was
a surprise. I didn't know it was
going to happen, and Chancellor
Vanderhoef at the time made
that happen and gave this
opportunity to my daughter.
She was 16 years old.
(16:02):
And it was just extraordinary, just
extraordinary. So I'm
so connected with
— so many life moments connected to
the campus. But that one, that one
really jumps out.
Yeah, it's very special.
As a girl dad, I get it.
I understand.
Yeah.
... Yeah. ...
We have an aspect of "Face to
Face" that we call "Hot Seat."
(16:23):
It's a little feature that we do
every time, where I give the guest
a question, and I look for, like, a
one-word or one-sentence answer.
If you're ready, we'll do that.
... Sure. ... OK.
Here we go.
Favorite city in the world from an
architectural point of view?
Florence, ...Florence. ... Italy.
Yeah, I agree.
(16:44):
I like Florence.
Biggest surprise in your time here
at Davis?
Well, that was the one I just
mentioned.
That was getting surprised by my
daughter coming on stage.
Yeah, I can imagine how it
felt.
Who would you like to sit down and
have dinner with, alive or dead?
That would be
this Frederick Law Olmsted guy,
(17:04):
because, yeah, designer
of Central Park but the reason he
did it — now I'm going to more than
one word. That'd be the guy.
But he did it because
— he created these places because he
felt like these big open spaces in
cities were how you promoted social
health in these big
urban cities. So yeah, fascinating
guy.
Right.
(17:25):
Favorite spot on campus?
Arboretum.
I knew you're going to say that.
I ask this question to every guest.
What artist is at the top of your
playlist right now?
There's actually a group called The
Mavericks that
I've been enjoying a lot.
OK.
(17:47):
Now it's your turn.
You get to ask me a question.
Ask me anything.
All right, I've got one.
I know before I even met you, when I
was first reading about you
coming to Davis,
I read about how important
mentoring is to you and some of your
experiences around that.
And I'm wondering,
you know, was there a time in
(18:08):
your life or an event or person
who made you kind of make that
transition from looking for a mentor
to realizing that you could be
a mentor? And was there something
that you point to?
I don't know if I can point to one.
Mentoring is so important.
Any leadership role — Fortune
(18:29):
500 CEO, higher ed,
government, whatever — if you ask
that person in the leadership
role what was most impactful
in their life and career, somebody
is going — they're going to say a
mentor had some impact
on them. Same as for me.
And I just started thinking, you
know, I am not going to be doing
what I'm doing forever, and I've got
to help the next generation of —
whether it's professors
(18:50):
or deans or chancellors
or whatever it is I'm doing — to
develop. So I think it's important
for me to do that. Particularly in
my case, I think I'm sensitive
to doing that for underrepresented
folks like myself and
helping them sort of see what they
can be.
There was a quote from the surgeon
general, former Surgeon General
(19:12):
Joycelyn Elders.
She said, if you can't see it, you
can't be it. Or something like that.
If you can see it, you can be it.
Put it in a more positive way.
And that's kind of had an impact on
me.
Any other questions for me?
Well, yeah, I do have another one.
We're talking about Aggie Square,
and that's really — we've spent so
much good time together
over the past few years on getting
(19:32):
the project to this point.
So if we fast forward to the future,
and Aggie Square is open for five
years, and it's thriving.
What does that mean to you?
What would you be seeing if Aggie
Square is — it's
all of our goals.
It's pretty similar to the
scenario you described.
It would be people in the square,
(19:53):
people having conversations, people
that don't necessarily normally
see each other bumping into each
other and something good happens,
whether it's an idea for a company
or a new research project or
whatever.
And it's
an area that's viewed as sort of a
thriving focus for the city,
for Sacramento.
All sorts of events happen there,
whether it be events around,
(20:16):
you know, entrepreneurship or just
entertainment or other types of
things that happen in the public
square, as you said.
So if that's happening, and
we're bringing people and
ideas and talent and companies
to Sacramento, that's
a success for me in terms of Aggie
Square.
(20:37):
Thanks to everyone for listening.
Tune in next time on “Face to Face.”Go, Ags!
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to “Face to Face,” a UC Davis podcast
featuring students, staff and faculty innovators.
I’m your host, Chancellor Gary May.
Stay tuned for my next guest.
Bob's work is transformational
in sort of every aspect of that
(00:23):
word. His
job title doesn't come close
to explaining what
Bob has done during his career.
I think his biggest accomplishment
was what he often referred to
as the new campus front door —
so the Mondavi Center, the art
museum, the Robert Mondavi
Institute for Wine and Food Science.
(00:43):
I mean, that was a surface parking
lot with human resources trailers
that was transformed into a
way — using his words — to welcome
people that often don't have a place
here, people that may not be
studying here but can visit the
university.
I'll always remember the grand
opening for the Mondavi
Center. There was a moment where I
(01:04):
just saw the building alive, as Bob
has described it.
There were people on all three
levels. And really
that whole Mondavi Center, I think
Bob really was instrumental.
And now he's done something terrific
in terms of a vision for Aggie
Square.
Bob was one of the early supporters
of the Aggie Square concept.
I think he saw — as a planner — he
(01:24):
saw the great possibilities we had
with the space that we were going to
try to invigorate.
The best part of our experience
was when the pandemic started, and
we were sort of questioning how we
would go forward, if we would go
forward, if we would slow things
down.
And Bob and I agreed that the best
thing to do was to plow straight
ahead. And that was the right
decision, because it's worked out
wonderfully.
(01:45):
Most people aspire to leave a place
better off due to their works.
But I mean, Bob has
done that in volumes.
Bob Segar, welcome to "Face to
Face." Thanks for being here.
Oh, that wasn't fair.
I didn't know that was
going to happen.
Got a couple of tears or anything
like that?
Yeah, you got me.
(02:06):
You got me.
Well, we're glad to have you here
today.
And congrats on the upcoming
retirement.
It's been an honor to work with you
for the six years that I've been
here. But, you know, the campus has
enjoyed your services for 25
or more years, as I understand it.
So thanks for everything you've done
for UC Davis.
Yeah, thank you too, Gary.
It's been — my
(02:26):
main feeling right now is I just
feel fortunate. I just feel so
fortunate to have found UC Davis.
It was a match for me.
And I got to bring my best
A-game, and
it was appreciated.
And I appreciate everything you've
done to support me and give me
opportunities to lead.
Well, we've been fortunate, too,
that's for sure.
(02:46):
Bob, when did you decide you wanted
to be an urban designer?
Was that something early in your
life or something happened in your
career where you made that decision?
Yeah. Thanks.
I went to — I was an
undergrad at Stanford and
didn't quite find my
perfect major there.
But I actually made up a major, and
it was it was called urban studies.
(03:07):
And I was looking for what I might
do in graduate
school. And I actually discovered
Frederick Law Olmsted.
And Frederick Law Olmsted
was the designer of Central Park.
And he actually, it turns out, was
the designer of Stanford University
and, you know, amazing
parks and open spaces — and
even worked in Yosemite.
(03:27):
And I saw that there was this
profession, landscape
architecture/environmental design
where people created,
designed the world, designed
the environments that we live in —
everything from natural environments
to urban environments.
And that was it.
So I went to graduate school to
University of Michigan in landscape
architecture/environmental design.
(03:48):
So how did you get from Stanford to
Michigan to UC Davis?
So first job out of Michigan
was in
San Francisco.
Michigan was in — I grew up in the
Midwest, came to college at
Stanford, went back to the Midwest,
to Ann Arbor for graduate school,
and probably would have stayed
there. But it was early
(04:09):
'80s.
There were not many jobs
happening in the Midwest at that
point. And a friend from
school had gotten a job in
San Francisco.
And they were hiring like crazy.
So Jennifer
and I packed up this little tiny
Toyota and drove across the country.
And we both started working in San
Francisco at a big architecture
and land-planning firm called HOK.
(04:30):
HOK actually — in
the office when I first worked
at HOK was Meyer Hall
on UC Davis campus.
They were designing that building,
and since then, HOK designed
the Vet Med 3 building.
So that
was my first job.
When I was at HOK,
a job came up on the Berkeley
campus.
(04:50):
And I got to be a project manager
for that job, and I realized how
much I really loved working
on a college campus.
College campuses are the only
environments really in our
kind of contemporary landscape,
Gary, where cars are all pushed
out to the edge, and
it's just about designing places for
(05:10):
people.
And it's also
designing places for people and
students, in particular, where,
you know, at a particularly
impactful part of their lives, where
the environment matters.
And so I worked on that job,
and then I got a job at Stanford
in their campus planning office for
a couple of years. And then
UC Davis came up, and
(05:31):
I've been here ever since.
So that early Meyer Hall
exposure was kind of — it was meant
to be? Right?
Here you are.
That's right.
That's right. That was my glimpse at
UC Davis.
So you touched on this a minute ago,
but you're
trained in urban design, but you've
been on a college campus for much of
your career.
Other than moving the cars out, what
(05:53):
do you think is different between
being on a college campus and doing
the planning here versus being, you
know, in a city?
Yeah, I mean, one thing is,
you know, it's our environment
to control, really.
So, you know, I'm in a professional
capacity working for
you and others to make
this campus everything it can be for
(06:13):
our community — so for students,
for faculty to do their work, for
staff to do their work, and for the
many, many visitors that come.
And, you know, I'm looked to for my
expertise to
provide the guidance
to you and others about how to shape
this place.
And that's a really, really unusual
opportunity. I mean, if you work for
(06:33):
a city, you know, in the city
planning office, there are lots of
folks, and they're facilitating, you
know, community input about the
whole thing.
But when you work on a campus, you
really look to be the person
that gives guidance
to shape the place.
I want to talk about the campus
front door.
I have to tell you, when LeShelle
and I came here and we saw the
(06:54):
museum and the Mondavi Center and
the Mondavi Institute and,
you know, that Welcome Center
and everything in that part of
campus, it really did a lot to
sell us on coming to Davis.
Tell us about how that evolved in
your mind and how it actually got
realized.
Yeah. So that was a pretty amazing
opportunity over a period of over
(07:14):
20 years.
When I started working — and I
remember taking you and LeShelle
around on a tour where we got
to see that. That was the first time
we met, which was really fun.
Yeah, it used to be
when you drove by UC Davis,
all you saw was the
water tower.
And you saw a row of trees, which
was the Arboretum.
(07:36):
And, you know, there was a sign,
so you figured UC Davis was back
there somewhere.
But we didn't really have a presence
for the public.
And the very first project I worked
on when I came to the
university was the Buehler Alumni
and Visitors Center.
And we decided literally to
bring that building out from behind
the trees and face it towards
(07:56):
the freeway. We did a master plan
for what became that whole Gateway
District, that whole front door.
And people asked me for years, why
did you face that building the wrong
way?
Because the campus is over there.
And we said, because we want people
to know we're here.
And we want to roll out the red
carpet for all
the people who come here for the
first time, either
(08:17):
looking at the place to be a
student, or as a visitor,
or to experience, to connect with
somebody at the university.
And so from there,
the next big move was the Mondavi
Center
and the parking structure that went
with it.
And oh, so many
stories about that.
But I just remember having an
opportunity to take Robert and
Margrit Mondavi — we took them to
(08:39):
the top of the parking structure.
And the Mondavi Center, the steel
was going up, and Robert Mondavi
just kept saying, "I had no idea
that this university was doing this,
in this place, at this scale."
And he threw his support
to the project.
But the commonality of all of it,
Gary, was
putting really high
(09:00):
public impact, high
public access
programs at the front door
of the university. So people had a
reason to pull off that freeway
and come explore us and have
a great experience.
So there was the Mondavi Center,
Graduate School of Management,
Mondavi Institute for food and wine,
and then finally the Manetti Shrem
(09:21):
Museum. And all of them, you know,
are places that, really, people are
interested in coming and exploring
and connecting with.
And that can only,
you know — we're down to the benefit
of the university.
Either, you know, people get to know
us and realize the amazing
things that go on here.
They're going to support us, one way
or the other. And that's really what
it was all about.
Yeah, agreed.
And the museum, I think I have this
(09:42):
right, was named one of the
top 25 museums — not
just museums at universities —
but top 25 museums in the past
100 years.
That's got to be mind-blowing. ... It was. ...
Right. ...
It was.
It was extraordinary.
And, you know, it's
interesting because the architect,
Florian Idenburg, actually
grew up in the Netherlands, and
(10:05):
he did his research when he was
interviewing for the building.
And he found this poster
from the early 1900s
where you could come explore, go up
the Sacramento Delta on what was
called the Netherlands Route.
You could take a boat up the Delta.
And he actually connected
with the kind of physicality
and the territory
(10:26):
that we're in from where he grew up
in the Netherlands. And he just
nailed — he got it right.
He just had such an understanding
of our place and
the building. The building shows
that. I agree.
It really does differentiate
us from other places.
Now, you and I have been working
together on Aggie Square for the
last five years or so.
(10:46):
In the intro, we talked about our
conversation right when the pandemic
started about what do we do.
But even before that, you know, I
just had an idea.
I didn't really have
a vision that was
on paper.
But you and
others — there's a team — but you
made that idea turn into what
now is, you know, a couple of
(11:07):
buildings going up.
And we just had a topping-off
ceremony this week
for the first two buildings.
So talk about that a little bit
and how that has evolved.
Yeah. So, you know, you had
the idea. I remember a meeting
where we were getting briefed by
some folks on the Sacramento campus
(11:27):
about some early planning that they
were doing for what became
Aggie Square. And they were
realizing they should be thinking
about expanding their research
enterprise. And
you saw it, and I remember
the day where you were saying, can
we call that — let's call that Aggie
Square.
And I think you were doing your scan
(11:49):
for, you know, is
there a UC Davis appropriate
version of what you experienced in
Atlanta, right, where the university
becomes this generator of
ideas and investment and community
benefit.
And so I looked at the
planning they were already doing in
Sacramento.
And honestly, what we were just
talking about, Gary, the front door
to UC Davis, the Davis campus,
(12:10):
was part of what drove my
thinking about this opportunity for
the Sacramento campus in Sacramento.
It's a completely different
context, completely different
neighborhoods, you know, big, big
city.
But it's —
our Sacramento campus is this
opportunity to do what we did in
Davis, to really kind
of crack that campus open for the
public and roll out the red
(12:32):
carpet. So, you know,
we want — so we designed
the Aggie Square to be that
welcoming public
access point to the UC
Davis Sacramento campus.
It will succeed
if people in our community feel
like they can just walk on and
explore, because there
might be something there for them.
(12:55):
And right now it just doesn't feel
like that. It's, you know, it's
extraordinary enterprise, but it's
big hospital buildings, big parking
structures. You go there if you need
medical care.
Aggie Square is about going there as
a community member or an industry
partner or a school kid
and exploring the university and
seeing what it can do for you.
And so we — that influenced
(13:16):
the design of the place.
... Yeah. ... Making sure we're open
and have big public spaces and
different buildings doing different
things surrounding it.
So all kinds of different people who
come for different reasons run into
each other.
So really those goals about
people feeling welcome and people
finding one another
drove the design.
(13:36):
Is there anything about the project
that gets you especially
excited or
a favorite building or a favorite
part of the entire
project?
Yeah, I have to say,
you know, when you first kind of
branded it Aggie Square, it was
an idea for kind
(13:57):
of this innovation district that
would have all these different
moving parts.
But I think the thing I'm most
excited about is that Aggie Square
transitioned from becoming an idea
to actually becoming a physical
place.
And so we have this public plaza
right at the heart of Aggie Square
that is surrounded — every single
building in the project
(14:18):
has a front door that empties
out onto this Aggie Square plaza.
And there'll be events, and there'll
be, again, people running into
people from different walks of life
that they never would have met.
And that's how innovation happens.
So, yeah, so being that landscape
architect, kind of urban designer
instead of an architect, to me it's
the public places that
(14:39):
really create the life of the
community. And it just — so
the exercise is what do you surround
those public places with so they
come to life, and again, people
connect with each other.
Yeah, and
same question, bigger scope:
When you look at your whole career
here at UC Davis, 25
years, is there a moment or
(15:00):
a project that stands out to
you or something you're particularly
proud of?
Well,
gosh, there's so much.
I've been thinking —
I really — I
have a story every place I go on
the campus, either story of
something that we made happen
and changed, or something we just
(15:20):
preserved and, you
know, a treasure that people went
there for the ages that
we were able to preserve.
But, I mean, you know, I have my
Mondavi Center moment
that I've shared with you,
where
my daughter Andrea got to
(15:41):
be the first solo performer
in that building when it opened.
And you know, that just,
still, I mean — I can't tell the
story without, just, my heart
pounding, because it was
a surprise. I didn't know it was
going to happen, and Chancellor
Vanderhoef at the time made
that happen and gave this
opportunity to my daughter.
She was 16 years old.
(16:02):
And it was just extraordinary, just
extraordinary. So I'm
so connected with
— so many life moments connected to
the campus. But that one, that one
really jumps out.
Yeah, it's very special.
As a girl dad, I get it.
I understand.
Yeah.
... Yeah. ...
We have an aspect of "Face to
Face" that we call "Hot Seat."
(16:23):
It's a little feature that we do
every time, where I give the guest
a question, and I look for, like, a
one-word or one-sentence answer.
If you're ready, we'll do that.
... Sure. ... OK.
Here we go.
Favorite city in the world from an
architectural point of view?
Florence, ...Florence. ... Italy.
Yeah, I agree.
(16:44):
I like Florence.
Biggest surprise in your time here
at Davis?
Well, that was the one I just
mentioned.
That was getting surprised by my
daughter coming on stage.
Yeah, I can imagine how it
felt.
Who would you like to sit down and
have dinner with, alive or dead?
That would be
this Frederick Law Olmsted guy,
(17:04):
because, yeah, designer
of Central Park but the reason he
did it — now I'm going to more than
one word. That'd be the guy.
But he did it because
— he created these places because he
felt like these big open spaces in
cities were how you promoted social
health in these big
urban cities. So yeah, fascinating
guy.
Right.
(17:25):
Favorite spot on campus?
Arboretum.
I knew you're going to say that.
I ask this question to every guest.
What artist is at the top of your
playlist right now?
There's actually a group called The
Mavericks that
I've been enjoying a lot.
OK.
(17:47):
Now it's your turn.
You get to ask me a question.
Ask me anything.
All right, I've got one.
I know before I even met you, when I
was first reading about you
coming to Davis,
I read about how important
mentoring is to you and some of your
experiences around that.
And I'm wondering,
you know, was there a time in
(18:08):
your life or an event or person
who made you kind of make that
transition from looking for a mentor
to realizing that you could be
a mentor? And was there something
that you point to?
I don't know if I can point to one.
Mentoring is so important.
Any leadership role — Fortune
(18:29):
500 CEO, higher ed,
government, whatever — if you ask
that person in the leadership
role what was most impactful
in their life and career, somebody
is going — they're going to say a
mentor had some impact
on them. Same as for me.
And I just started thinking, you
know, I am not going to be doing
what I'm doing forever, and I've got
to help the next generation of —
whether it's professors
(18:50):
or deans or chancellors
or whatever it is I'm doing — to
develop. So I think it's important
for me to do that. Particularly in
my case, I think I'm sensitive
to doing that for underrepresented
folks like myself and
helping them sort of see what they
can be.
There was a quote from the surgeon
general, former Surgeon General
(19:12):
Joycelyn Elders.
She said, if you can't see it, you
can't be it. Or something like that.
If you can see it, you can be it.
Put it in a more positive way.
And that's kind of had an impact on
me.
Any other questions for me?
Well, yeah, I do have another one.
We're talking about Aggie Square,
and that's really — we've spent so
much good time together
over the past few years on getting
(19:32):
the project to this point.
So if we fast forward to the future,
and Aggie Square is open for five
years, and it's thriving.
What does that mean to you?
What would you be seeing if Aggie
Square is — it's
all of our goals.
It's pretty similar to the
scenario you described.
It would be people in the square,
(19:53):
people having conversations, people
that don't necessarily normally
see each other bumping into each
other and something good happens,
whether it's an idea for a company
or a new research project or
whatever.
And it's
an area that's viewed as sort of a
thriving focus for the city,
for Sacramento.
All sorts of events happen there,
whether it be events around,
(20:16):
you know, entrepreneurship or just
entertainment or other types of
things that happen in the public
square, as you said.
So if that's happening, and
we're bringing people and
ideas and talent and companies
to Sacramento, that's
a success for me in terms of Aggie
Square.
(20:37):
Thanks to everyone for listening.
Tune in next time on “Face to Face.”Go, Ags!
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