In the early 2000s, Sal Genito, then Director of the UC Davis Grounds Division, was grappling with an unexpected campus challenge: fallen olives from trees lining busy bike paths were creating safety hazards and liability concerns. Rather than remove the trees, he asked Dan Flynn to conduct a feasibility study to explore a different idea — harvesting the olives and producing campus olive oil.
The study concluded that producing olive oil would reduce liability costs, create a distinctive campus product, and operate at least at a financial break-even. Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef approved the initiative, and in 2005 the first bottling of UC Davis Olive Oil debuted at Picnic Day — selling out immediately. Sal appointed Dan Flynn to lead the olive oil program through the Grounds Division, marking the beginning of a uniquely UC Davis success story.
In 2007, Flynn proposed that the newly established Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science house a dedicated research and education center focused on olives and olive oil — envisioning that UC Davis could do for olives what it had done for wine. With strong support from university leadership and the olive industry, the UC Davis Olive Center was officially established in January 2008, with Flynn as its founding Executive Director. Under his leadership, the Center gained international recognition for its research, standards work, and educational programs until his retirement in 2021.
In 2009, Dr. Selina C. Wang joined the Center as a postdoctoral researcher and was appointed Research Director in 2011. She led more than 90 research projects that significantly advanced olive and olive oil quality standards, authenticity testing, and processing science. In 2018, she was appointed by UC ANR as Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension in the Department of Food Science and Technology at UC Davis, continuing her research and outreach mission. Today, Prof. Wang serves as Faculty Director of the UC Davis Olive Center, guiding its next chapter of scientific leadership, education, and industry engagement.
What began as a creative solution to a landscape hazard has grown into an internationally respected research and education center. UC Davis Olive Oil remains a flagship campus product, sold through UC Davis Stores, and continues to help support the Center’s research and educational mission.