Below is a transcript of Clare Hasler's 2009 Fall Convocation speech:

It is such an incredible honor for me to be here with all of you this morning….AND particularly to be on the stage with our new Chancellor!!

Excitement is really in the air today as UC Davis begins its second century. Can you feel it???

The campus is alive again…!! 30,000 students are back in the classrooms and labs. Our athletic fields are brimming with energy, precision and just plain fun. It’s a far cry from 100 years ago when 21 students took the first classes here on farm management and there was one small student dormitory. They probably never imagined that UC Davis would be an international powerhouse 100 years later.

To all of you freshmen -- congratulations! After three passes, you’ve finally gotten all the classes you need. You’ve traded in your Toyota for a rusty bike that you haven’t ridden since junior high. And you’ve compacted all your worldly belongings into half of a 9-by-12 foot dorm room.

Can the college experience get any better THIS?

Fall really is a fabulous time in Davis – and it’s different than any other place on earth. I grew up in Michigan and toward the end of September in the Great Lakes State; we’re pulling out our woolens and checking the storm windows.

Not here in Davis. In Davis, it’s still 90 degrees. The shadows are a bit longer and there’s a hint of gold in the sunlight. But it’s STILL 90 degrees!!

And that’s what we love about it. Fall in Davis is a time rich in contradictions. We’re a bit melancholy that summer is fading and yet we’re also terribly excited that the new school year is beginning.

The lines are long again at the grocery store, and it’s hard to find food at the Coffee House because it’s being reconstructed this year. Despite that, it’s a time for reflection, for anticipation and for transformation.

UC Davis is truly experiencing a period of transformative growth and renewal – one that goes far beyond the bricks and mortar, glass and steel that we see rising around us. As impressive as all of these new facilities are, they are merely the cocoons for the butterfly. For it’s within their walls that you’ll find that magical transfer of knowledge and experience, as one generation challenges the next to dream bigger…to fly higher.

Nowhere is that sense of change and hope stronger than it is right here on the south side of campus, which is rapidly becoming UC Davis’s bustling new front door to the world.

Behind me is MY campus home -- the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, which now houses the departments of Viticulture and Enology and Food Science and Technology.

It was just a year ago that the institute celebrated its grand opening. In April we planted our new 13 acre teaching and research vineyard. And just recently, we broke ground on the August A. Busch III Brewing and Food Science Laboratory and the Teaching and Research Winery which will open next summer. Yes, we now have a vineyard on campus, and soon we’ll have a winery and a brewery! But it’s all for education and research; we’re not trying to move up the ladder in the party school rankings!

I encourage all of you to come and visit us at the Robert Mondavi Institute, where you can also stroll through the beautiful Good Life Garden. AND you can watch the progress on the construction of the new winery, brewery and food processing facility on our LIVE Web cam during the coming months.

Now, behind YOU, I’m sure you’ve noticed that the new Graduate School of Management is just a few short weeks from completion, with the hotel and conference center not far behind. And another neighbor here in the south part of campus--the School of Law--is also expanding.

The new growth at UC Davis isn’t limited to the campus’s south side. On La Rue Road, across from the ARC, is the new three-story Student Health and Wellness Center, slated to open in January. Don’t forget to get your seasonal flu and H1N1vaccinations!

West of campus, across Highway 113, the roads and infrastructure are now being installed for West Village, a 200-acre campus neighborhood that will include a mix of student and employee housing, retail space and even a community college center. And other construction is happening all around this campus and in the UC Health System in Sacramento.

All of this growth and transformation exemplifies the great institution of UC Davis.

But great universities are really about great people – the people who are right here and those who believe in what we’re doing. These are people who trust in UC Davis’ ability to lead California and the world in the 21st century, and have helped transform UC Davis into the campus it is today and will become tomorrow.

As a land-grant university, our roots were originally in agriculture and engineering. We have come a long way since those early days. We are now a major university with ten academic colleges and professional schools. We are leaders in education, leaders in research, and leaders in outreach, not only in California, but in the world. Today, true to its land-grant mission, UC Davis touches EVERYTHING that matters to us as people.

To all of the students here --you should be VERY proud that you chose UC Davis for your education! It is not only one of the top ranked universities but a warm and welcoming community. We hope to serve you well, and we hope to remain lifelong friends with you.

Sustainability is one of the themes of Convocation this year. As a land-grant university, UC Davis personifies “sustainability.” This concept arose from agriculture and the green revolution of the 1960s. UC Davis was at the forefront of this movement then, and remains so now, with its new Agricultural Sustainability Institute, and a new major in agricultural sustainability and food systems. Thousands of students have worked on the campus’ Student Farm – regardless of their majors.

In the last 5 to 10 years, the concept of sustainability has moved well beyond agricultural production, and now addresses food systems, waste reduction, recycling, “paper vs. plastic,” water conservation, environmental stewardship, transportation, carbon footprints, global warming, . . . and the list continues to grow!

UC Davis is a leader in all of these areas and more, and is poised to have an even larger global presence and impact during our second century. Our university is transforming the world…every single day – through our education, our research, and our outreach.

Sustainability is a transformative concept for all of us who seek a viable future for our children, our environment and our world.

In the area of nutrition--my own field of expertise--we now realize that diet can have a transformative effect on health and well being. This should come as no surprise. After all, it was Hippocrates, the father of medicine, who linked the critical relationship between diet and health more than 2,500 years ago when he said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

As we sit here today the national debate on universal healthcare rages across the nation—from coffee houses in Davis to the halls of Congress.

Still…. a simple truth rings clear: Appropriate diet and lifestyle choices can prevent a large percentage of the chronic disease that we face today and that is crippling our healthcare system.

Certain foods and beverages contain more than just calories and a handful of vitamins. Some of them, we’re finding, offer very specific health benefits. Such foods are known as “functional foods.” For example, the tomatoes that we’re so proud of here in the Sacramento Valley are rich in a compound called lycopene, which appears to protect against prostate cancer.

In our own department of nutrition here on campus, researchers have shown that dark chocolate contains antioxidants that may benefit the heart. And many studies have shown that moderate consumption of red wine – emphasis on the moderate – reduces the risk of coronary artery disease and may even improve bone density!

The more we delve into the biochemical makeup of our foods, the more we are finding that nature has already provided us with a well-stocked medicine cabinet – right in our kitchen pantry. UC Davis has established the Foods for Health Institute to address these issues.

You know, as scientists, we like to think that we’re quite clever for discovering how the world around us works. But so often we are humbled to realize that those who went before us had insights that we are just now learning to appreciate.

Robert and Margrit Mondavi were confident that the future of fine wine, good food and the arts could be entrusted to UC Davis. The Anheuser-Busch Foundation and many other donors continue to share their vision.

I’m proud to say that at the Robert Mondavi Institute, the building that will house our new winery, brewery and food processing facility is being constructed to meet the very highest environmental standards. It is expected to achieve what is known as LEED Platinum certification, the highest rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. It will be the first such facility of its kind in the world, complete with environment-friendly features such as solar power, carbon dioxide capture, and rainwater capture and re-use.

Now if THAT doesn’t fire up your Aggie pride, I don’t know what will!

In the arboretum, just to the north of here, tucked beneath the oak trees is a quiet spot. It is the new Native American Contemplative Garden, dedicated to the earliest residents of this land. We now call them the Patwin – “the people.”

Archeological finds around campus tell us that the Patwin came to the banks of Putah Creek to hunt for elk and gather acorns. I can’t help but wonder what secrets they knew about food and sustainability that we have long since forgotten.

Would the Patwin be impressed by the things that we call progress? Would they see us headed toward a sustainable future?

It’s been said that true sustainability is a world view that always keeps in mind the impact our actions will have on not only the next generation, but the next SEVEN generations. If we were to one day sit down across the table from our grandchildren’s grandchildren – AND their grandchildren – could we look them in the eye and say: “We helped make your world a better place?”

ABSOLUTELY!

Those 21 students who took the first classes here 100 years ago DID make our world a better place. And they set the stage for us to continue to make the world even better for our seven generations of successors – 100 years from now.

We are here today to celebrate our collective strength as a university community. To build on the transformative accomplishments of the past century and to work towards a sustainable future.

So…. as we commence a new year full of life-stretching challenges and changes, remember: your dreams WILL transform you and your ability to create a sustainable future will transform all those around you!!!

Thank you!!