The University of California, Berkeley was founded in 1868, and its founding father is Henry Durant.
Durant was born on January 20, 1822 in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard University for his undergraduate degree and then went on to study law at Harvard Law School. After graduating from law school, he moved to California with his wife Eliza and son Henry Jr., where they lived in San Francisco from 1850-1855.
Henry Durant was a businessman who helped found many other institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the California Academy of Sciences and the College of California (which later became UC Berkeley).
In 1856 Durant became the first chancellor of the newly established University of California system. Durant took an active role in the new university by raising funds and recruiting faculty members for the campuses he oversaw. He also served as vice president of the board of regents from 1867-1870 and again from 1871-1879.
In addition to his work at UC Berkeley, Durant also served as a member of the California State Senate from 1861-1863 and again in 1870-1873.
In 1861, Durant became involved with setting up the University of California and served as its first regent. In 1872, he was appointed president of the university, but resigned after only one year because of health problems. He died on May 13th, 1886 at the age of 56.
