On April 8, a crowd of dozens of UC Davis supporters—alumni, faculty, staff and graduate students—all seated under a tent outside Walker Hall excitedly yelled out in unison, “Five, four, three, two, one!”
With that, the sound of melodic clanking filled the air as members of the UC Davis and Graduate Studies community rang ceremonial bells to commemorate the grand opening of the Graduate Center at Walker Hall.
From 1928 until 2011, Walker Hall was a place where faculty, staff and students engaged in a wide range of cutting-edge research and development.
UC Davis retirees Ted and Silvia Hillyer are no exception. As a mechanical engineer, Ted joined UC Davis staff in 1974, having been recruited by the chairman of the Department of Applied Science, which was primarily housed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Ted was responsible for designing graduate research laboratories at Walker Hall.
The 85-year-old Walker Hall, one of the oldest buildings on campus, is bustling with student life again after a front-to-back renovation, including retrofits for accessibility and seismic safety.
The Graduate Center at Walker Hall will open its doors to the graduate student and postdoctoral community on September 20, 2021. The building’s much-awaited opening comes as students, staff, and faculty return to campus for fall quarter, with an anticipated grand opening event in April 2022.
The historic Walker Hall building has completed its transformation into a long-awaited Graduate Center. Located between Shields Library and the Student Community Center, the newly renovated 35,805-square-foot building will promote interdisciplinary interactions and build community by serving students and postdoctoral scholars.
Though much of the UC Davis campus has been quiet over the past few months, the lot west of Shields Library has remained abuzz with construction work on the new Graduate Center at Historic Walker Hall. Scheduled to open later this year, the newly renovated building will promote interdisciplinary interactions and build community by serving students and postdoctoral scholars.
