UC Regent Joanne Corday Kozberg is lavishing praise on recent building and grounds improvements at UC Davis, declaring: "It's a stunning campus; it just speaks of a campus that is rising."

Kozberg, chairwoman of the regents' Committee on Grounds and Buildings, compared UC Davis favorably to UCLA, which she said went through a transformation of its own, when the Los Angeles campus added brick facades to improve the look of the "brutalistic" architecture of post-World War II.

"I would say Davis is on the same path," said Kozberg, who came to Davis for Sept. 18-20 meetings of the Board of Regents. She spoke with the UC Davis News Service during a reception with the chancellor and the university's other academic officers.

"Students are glowing about the Davis campus," Kozberg said. "They love this campus."

And so does she: "This has been an absolute transformation, from buildings that didn't interrelate" to a place where "there's now an entire conversation going on" among buildings.

"Both the hardscape and the softscape work together to create a community, with pedestrian paths, bike paths and landscaping — it's all very inviting," she said. "It creates a wonderful community where the faculty can do their research and teaching, and students can have a robust student life."

Kozberg said she recalls driving by UC Davis on Interstate 80, "and all you saw was a water tower."

Today, the south entry off I-80 is the campus's new front door, home to the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center. The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science is under construction nearby. The south entry also will be home to the Graduate School of Management and a new university conference center, plus a hotel.

"Now you've got something that tells the story of UC Davis, and invites the community in," Kozberg said.