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Governor Gray Davis Celebrates 20th Anniversary of California NanoSystems Institute

After multiple delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, former California Governor and Loeb Of Counsel Gray Davis celebrated the 20th anniversary of California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) — one of the four UC-based California Institutes for Sciences and Innovation (Cal ISI) that Governor Davis founded and launched in 2000 during his tenure as California’s governor — on March 11. 

CNSI is a nanotechnology center at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara leveraging public and private investments to drive collaborative nanoscience research across disciplines, translating discoveries into knowledge-driven commercial enterprises and educating the next generation of scientists and engineers. As a whole, the CAL ISIs have helped California remain a leader in clean technologies, next-generation therapeutics, cutting-edge biomaterials and more over the last two decades.

Governor Davis was joined by CNSI Director Jeff Miller, Chancellor Gene Block and UCLA administrators, deans and faculty members to celebrate the institute’s 20th anniversary. California government officials who also played a crucial role in creating the Cal ISIs, including former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former California State Senator Robert Hertzberg, were also on hand to offer their congratulations, along with current California State Senator Ben Allen.

“The CNSI and Cal ISIs were formed to keep California at the forefront of technology through advanced academic research and partnerships with the private sector,” said Governor Davis. “The institutes represent a remarkable achievement in giving back to the economy of our state.”

Throughout the years, CNSI’s support for researchers and entrepreneurs has led to various large projects; startups backed by CNSI have attracted more than $1 billion in investment funding to foster economic development throughout California.

For more information about the 20th anniversary celebration, visit CNSI’s website.